Self Reliant Leadership (TM)

Self Reliant Leadership has moved

2010-04-29T10:24:00.000-06:00

The Self Reliant Leadership Blog has moved to http://janrutherford.com/blog/

Thank you!

Jan Rutherford

Passion and Stamina

2010-04-18T18:40:00.001-06:00

I had the opportunity today to ride with some of cycling’s greats, and I was impressed that after nearly thirty years, they still have a deep passion for the sport. They love talking about racing tactics, and mostly, their kid’s accomplishments. They have all become leaders beyond the sport in business and charities, and their passion and pursuit of excellence must be one of the things that have allowed them to exert leadership for such a prolonged period of time. It is a good reminder that passion is the key, and the dedication and sacrifice are the other parts that do not go unnoticed by followers.

Cultural Values

2010-04-06T15:34:00.002-06:00

I met a pleasant shopkeeper in Nice, France, and she asked a lot of questions about Americans. She expressed a desire to see the "real" America someday, but then said her choice destination would be New York! She admires the American work ethic as the French only work 35 hours per week, and take 5 weeks of Holiday per year. With her praise, she also said that she perceives that many Americans are very closed-minded. She was aware of her bias, and at the same time, believed her perceptions were accurate.

With the topic of leadership, there is always a discussion of values, but the concept is often abstract. When captured in a brief conversation, the differences in values become quite apparent whether cultural or individual. The conversation with the French woman made me think of my own perceptions and biases. How do your values define you; and do they determine how you define others? Are you open-minded when and where you need to be?

A Race

2010-03-27T20:46:00.005-06:00

I watched my son win a cycling race today (see video), and I was an ecstatic and proud father, but not for the win. When he crossed that finish line I thought of everything he did to be competitive. I remembered all the times he struggled up the hills, and all the times I pressed him to persevere. I thought of his setbacks, and his tenacity. I thought about everything that led up to his achievement more than I thought about the moment. It wasn't his win that I was most proud of - it was what he did to become the young man he is. The race was a moment, but it was years in the making. It makes me think about leadership in general. It's not one victory, or one decision that defines leaders. It's the character they build bit by bit in sacrifice, sweat and tears.

Two questions if you're spending money on training

2010-03-20T08:00:00.010-06:00

I recently finished teaching a course at the University of Denver called, "Evaluating Training Strategies." The students' primary project was to find a local firm and create a training evaluation plan. The key part of creating an effective training evaluation plan is to tie together the learning objectives, and the business metric(s). This was also the primary challenge, because many people managing training don't connect the investment in training to making or saving money for the firm.

A lot of people charged with managing training (and their leaders) aren't demanding to see the connection between training and results. I believe Self Reliant Leadership is synonymous with knowing which questions to ask yourself, and having the courage to answer them and act. In the case of a training department, it really boils down to asking What and Why.

What training should we construct/conduct?
Why will we invest in this training? Is this the most productive way to enhance knowledge, skills and attitudes to improve the business (i.e., save or make money)?

Can it really be as simple as these two basic questions? What and Why are the "purpose" questions; while Who, Where, When and How are the operational questions.

Does this apply to more than just evaluating training?

The Healthcare Summit and Team Size

2010-02-26T07:51:00.004-07:00

By most accounts, there was little progress at the President's Healthcare Summit. I am not surprised. Not because of the political and policy differences on the intricacies of healthcare, but because of the size of the group. There were 40 people in that room, and multiple studies have shown that large teams are ineffective due to an inability to maintain focus. The size of a team is a major factor in a team's performance. How big is your team?

Uncommon company - uncommon leader

2010-02-14T17:25:00.006-07:00

Paul Spiegelman is the Founder and CEO of Beryl based in Dallas. The company claims the distinction of being the second Best Medium Company to Work For in America. What's uncommon is that this company is a call center focused on the hospital market. What's uncommon about Paul is that he was running the company successfully for 18 years before he read a business book! He will tell you that he's since become a voracious reader of business books, and they have made him a better leader. I can't help but wonder if running a company for so many years on "instinct" made the company what it is today? That is, he focused on creating a foundation built on uncompromising values rather than short-term profit.

Paul wrote a book called, "Why is Everyone Smiling?" and in it he shares his passion for creating a culture focused on creativity. Paul put his team first, and trusts they will take care of the customers, and profits will come. A call center is traditionally a high-turnover operation, and Paul has figured out how to create and build employee and customer loyalty while growing the company's bottom line.

Paul knew he was on to something, so he is leveraging his passion and talents as CEO of the Small Giants Community, "a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting companies that choose to be great instead of big."

Uncommon? Absolutely. But why?

The Mirror

2010-01-31T10:40:00.015-07:00

The good you find in others, is in you too.

The faults you find in others, are your faults as well.

After all, to recognize something you must know it.

The possibilities you see in others, are possible for you as well.

The beauty you see around you, is your beauty.

The world around you is a reflection, a mirror showing you the person you are.

To change your world, you must change yourself.

To blame and complain will only make matters worse.

Whatever you care about, is your responsibility.

What you see in others, shows you yourself.

See the best in others, and you will be your best.

Give to others, and you give to yourself.

Appreciate beauty, and you will be beautiful.

Admire creativity, and you will be creative.

Love, and you will be loved.

Seek to understand, and you will be understood.

Listen, and your voice will be heard.

Teach, and you will learn.

Show your best face to the mirror,

and you'll be happy with the face looking back at you.

~~ Author Unknown ~~

Reading, Writing and Leadership

2010-01-24T10:44:00.011-07:00

There are many reasons writers write, but why do readers read? A writer might write to persuade, but I doubt many readers choose a text in order to be persuaded. A reader might want to be informed, entertained, inspired, or emotionally connected to a story.

As I tackle to complete my first book, I have found that I am asking myself the same questions a leader would ask: What do I hope to accomplish? Who is my audience? Why am I doing this? It's not very different than a leader deciding on vision, mission and values. That is, where are we going, how will we get there, and why should you follow me?

For me, I am writing to inform and inspire through a few stories I hope will make an emotional connection to a specific audience. The harder question to answer is why, and my best response is that I feel compelled.

Seth Godin writes in his new book, Linchpin, "The reason that art (writing, engaging, leading, all of it) is valuable is precisely why I can't tell you how to do it. If there were a map, there'd be no art, because art is the act of navigating without a map."

Like writing, there is no sure path for a leader. No map, flowchart, checklist, algorithm, theory or foolproof method can insure a leader’s success. Perhaps a leader’s true path is best illuminated by reading other leaders’ stories.

The Ultimate Listener

2010-01-10T10:09:00.005-07:00

The amazing thing about Jo Berry is not that she forgives the man responsible for killing her father in Northern Ireland in 1984. The amazing thing is how she got to a place where she could forgive. Her reconciliation came by meeting and listening to the man who was an IRA bomber - the man who killed her father. By investing the time and truly listening, she came to understand Pat Magee. By listening, she came to know the unique circumstances in which he came of age, and what motivated him to commit such a horrific act. Learn more about their remarkable story.

Think about the people you work with... particularly a person that is difficult and hard to get along with. By engaging them and really listening, you will better understand where this person is coming from. That is, you will learn more about their values, beliefs, assumptions, interests, experiences and expectations. Equally important, your ability to focus and listen may help you influence this person's interactions with you and others. The power does indeed rest with the listener.

A Gift of 7 Questions

2009-12-24T08:40:00.002-07:00

Self Reliant Leadership is synonymous with knowing which questions to ask yourself, and having the courage to answer them and act.

What is your life story and purpose?
What sacrifices do you make on a daily basis towards the achievement of your goals?
When will you be making a decision to make a change in your current situation?
How do you evaluate yourself?
Do you love what you do – is it your passion and your life’s work?
How successful have you been so far?
What will be your legacy?

Extraordinary is where passion and discipline intersect.

Leadership in the making

2009-12-13T19:42:00.002-07:00

They call it America's Game as it's the oldest rivalry in sports. The Army-Navy game was played yesterday for the 110th time. Football aside, it was quite a site to see 8,000 cadets and midshipmen all in one place. Looking at the cadets on the field while hearing the announcer say, "Future leaders of America's sons and daughters," is quite a sobering moment. It's when you realize, more than those on the field, what's truly at stake for our best and brightest. In getting to know some of these cadets, I have no doubt they take their leadership development quite seriously. Please don't miss an opportunity to thank our military men and women for their service, and consider hiring veterans for their discipline, tenacity and leadership.

Wrapping up...

2009-12-05T10:37:00.002-07:00

This note is from a student at the conclusion of a course I teach at the University of Colorado. The quotes are from the reading, lectures and guest speakers...

Following is a list of “nuggets” – a compilation of phrases and quotes that touched me or spoke to me in some way throughout the course. Each one has been placed on an individual card, and I will keep a card posted next to my computer in my office, rotating them when I feel moved to do so. They will serve as concise reminders of what I learned in this course and of the leadership principles I wish to embrace. I plan to add to this list over time, as I continue to learn and grow in the realm of leadership.

Face your own hypocrisy.
My job is not to clean out my in-box.
You can’t manage what you don’t measure.
What would you like to accomplish to make a lasting impression for the future benefit of others long after you’re gone?
You ultimately control two things: Where you spend your time and how you respond to your environment.
There is only one success – living your life your way
There is only one negative stress – not feeling in control of your life
There is only one failure – when you quit trying to realize your dreams
Your present life is the result of the choices you have made in the past. The same will be true of your future. – Michael LeBoeuf
Look at yourself first.
You don’t always know ahead of time what is actually a big decision.
Have you earned the right in your organization to create change?
Where are my gaps?
I’m not any less a work in progress than I was 10 years ago.
Are you leading by example?
The way to demonstrate your values is where you spend your time.
A good test to determine if a contemplated action is ethical is to ask, “Would I want to see it in the headlines tomorrow morning?”
Admit your own mistakes openly and in good humor.
Rules are for everyone.
The organizational culture is the sum total of conversations in an organization. Change the conversations to change the culture.
A breakthrough is a series of well-managed breakdowns.
Failure is not an option.
Three universal questions: 1) C an I trust you? 2) Do you care about me as a person? 3) Are you committed to my success?
Listening is key.
Leaders have to be about serving others, or they will fail.
Performance management is not the same as leading.
YOU work for THEM. Never forget that.
Successful people are willing to do what unsuccessful people are not.
Everybody knows when a leader is not listening to them.
Secure discretionary effort.
Empowering people means giving up some power.
Put yourself in places where you are in over your head.
Try to learn something big every day.
Create a learning culture.
What are the top three things you need to get done to be successful?
Be a connector.
The biggest de-motivator is having someone in your chain of command who doesn’t walk the talk.
Provide opportunities for others to solve their own problems.
Leaderships is an act of engagement. – Alexander Horniman
Lift up those you serve, those you serve with, and ultimately yourself.
How would you go about building a whole life, with a remarkable legacy at the end?
Develop a distinguishing personal art-form of service.
Find the compass that vectors your whole life.
Leadership is a process, not a position.
Your relationship is your most important natural resource.
Behaving as and becoming a leader is a secondary by-product of an intense commitment to a purpose.
Given your behavior toward the other person, would you be willing to trade places with them immediately?
How do you want to feel today?
Ready, Fire, Aim, Fire, Aim, Fire, Aim…
You’re the one empowered to make people better than they would be if you were not there.
If you are going to do one thing, figure out how to listen to your customers.
Effective leaders know how to overcome people’s natural aversion to change.
What is the worst-case scenario here?
What do you worry about when you go to sleep at night? What do you want to worry about?
It doesn’t matter how right you are if people aren’t doing what you want.
Leadership is about change, not status quo.
Change is hard because it creates more work.
Leadership is about managing energy, first in yourself and then in those around you.
If you worry more about what others think than what you think, you’ll likely never get anything done.
Leadership involves sensing, seeing, and appreciating what is taking place around us.
Power in organizations is the capacity generated by relationships.
Leadership is the ability and the willingness to influence others so that they respond voluntarily.
The foundation of leadership includes truth-telling, promise-keeping, fairness, and respect for the individual.
When you move into the realm of obligation, you actually create a drain on your own energy.
Excellence is a neurotic lifestyle.
Set unreasonable expectations.
As a result of that encounter, am I viewed as an adversary or an ally? If the answer is “adversary”, your influence declined; if the answer is “ally”, your influence increased.
The ability to learn is perhaps the only source of sustainable competitive advantage.
Every organization is perfectly designed to produce the results it’s producing.

Learn to Balance to Lead

2009-11-21T09:03:00.003-07:00

Think of leadership as achieving a balance between task and relationship; and will and humility to gain a commitment versus mere compliance. At the center of this balance is the fulcrum of self-awareness which requires discipline and self reliance for personal growth and development. In the end, articulating where you’re going, how you’ll get there, and why it’s important is the mechanical part of leadership. The art is in working towards a balance to build trust and gain a voluntary commitment from those you seek to influence.

Learning to Lead boils down to focusing your time and managing how you respond to your environment. Your passion about the mission, and your attitude towards the people you lead needs to match your rhetoric.

Our Fallen Soldiers

2009-10-31T11:51:00.004-06:00

I commend the president for his respectful tribute to our fallen soldiers, and believe senior members of his administration should be duty-bound to attend the arrival of every flag covered casket. Only then will we appreciate the true cost of our policy decisions.

Hiring Heroes

2009-10-25T18:03:00.005-06:00

The woman looked and me and said, “Your mistake – you made eye contact!” Like a laser beam, she was headed straight for me on the tradeshow floor. Her name is Sara Trask, and unlike most of the corporate zombies one meets at a tradeshow, Sara was a breath of refreshing and energized air. It probably has a lot to do with her mission. She is the Director of Corporate Relations for Hire Heroes USA (http://www.hireheroesusa.org/). Somehow, I had not heard of this organization that started in June 2007. Its mission: “Through a personal approach, Hire Heroes USA serves as the bridge to fulfilling careers nationwide for our returning veterans from all branches of the military specializing in the career placement of those wounded or with any level of disability.” I am glad to know resources like this exist for our veterans, and happy to know there are people like Sara that approach her mission with the same zest our soldiers serve.

Did you do that on purpose?

2009-10-05T18:19:00.001-06:00

I was feeling contemplative recently while riding a trail along the foothills in Denver when I spotted three young mule deer bucks grazing in an open area. I stopped to admire them, and they grew skittish and ran towards me to the scrub oak that would provide cover. As they ran full speed just yards in front of me, I watched how deliberate they were in their movement. I was close enough to hear their hooves against the dirt and rocks, but I was surprised I didn’t hear their breathing. How wonderfully adaptable this animal is that it can run full speed uphill without getting winded!

This got me thinking about a recent discussion I had with my students. We were talking about resonance, and making sure our time is spent aligned with our values. That is, living on purpose and persevering despite the obstacles and daily struggles. What is it that we do (or should do) where we can run uphill with effortless grace? The deer I watched operate on an instinct to survive. For all they knew, I was just as threatening as a mountain lion. Like the deer, we can run out of fear, or pursue a passion that’s fueled by a desire to make a difference. Is your daily running based on instinct, or on purpose to achieve something meaningful in the service of others?

Sign Post for Life

2009-09-08T05:55:00.017-06:00

I saw this sign near Burlington, Vermont. I thought the sign was hilarious even before I saw the pond. The pond was about five square meters and twelve inches deep. I wondered what possessed someone to caution people about a pond. It wasn’t a caution about thin ice, or poisonous frogs. It was a caution about a pond! It might as well have said, “Caution – Trail.”

It got me thinking about risk. We hear a lot about how busy everyone is. We hear a lot about how managing time is the road to happiness. I wonder if the reason people can’t see to manage time is because we’re just plain afraid to say no to things. Just like we’re afraid to discard belongings. Perhaps a sign like the one depicted can serve to remind us that life without risk would be pretty dull, and what we should be afraid of is wasting our time on the wrong things.

Should you always get your hands dirty?

2009-08-26T20:51:00.005-06:00

Here's a story. A new lieutenant in charge of engineers tasked with building a bridge wanted to impress his men, so he jumped in and starting doing the hard work. The lieutenant's colonel appeared on the hill overlooking the river. With cigar in hand, he called the lieutenant up. Without saying a word, the colonel motioned for the lieutenant to sit. The silence made the lieutenant uncomfortable because it seemed to last a long time. After a while, the lieutenant noticed his men had not selected the best spot to build the bridge, and that they were using a dated method for construction that would cost valuable time. Upon noticing that, the lieutenant said to the colonel, "Sir, I think..." The colonel abruptly interrupted him before he could say another word and said, "Exactly!" and walked away.

Will & Skill

2009-08-08T14:56:00.004-06:00

I had not planted my feet on that ground in thirty years, but there I was standing in front of 460 brand new paratroopers at Fort Benning, Georgia. I remembered some aspects of my training clearly, but some of it was like looking through a screen door on a foggy day. Thirty years is a long time, and I wondered how that training had shaped who I had become. The NCO in charge of the graduation ceremony called out twenty-five students to assemble in front of the other parents and grandparents that had earned their wings in years past. It was surreal as my son posted himself in front of me, and I pinned the wings I earned in 1979 on his chest. Never then, nor recently, did I think I would have the honor and privilege. Seeing my son beam was much more gratifying than when I had earned them myself.

What struck me during the ceremony was that the soldiers I trained with at the height of the Cold War never thought we would fight the Soviet Union, so training always felt like drill. Fort Benning now has a palpable energy that did not exist in 1979. In 1979, the only soldiers with combat patches on their right shoulder were “old” Viet Nam veterans – soldiers we really couldn’t relate to. Almost every soldier on the post has a combat patch indicating that they had recently deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. What stands out to a casual observer is that these soldiers are astonishingly young. There is no doubt today’s military training takes on special relevance and urgency in time of war, and these young men and women joined knowing the risks “without any mental reservation .” In the 1980’s, we learned skills, but never had to test our will. Today, these soldiers know that their ability to persevere, their indomitable will, is principal to their success as leaders, because their fellow soldiers depend on them to survive and succeed in the harshest of circumstances.

How’s your will tested in your environment? Is it a competitive advantage?

Amazing leaders on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica

2009-07-05T22:00:00.002-06:00

The presence of leadership can come from the most unlikely places. While visiting the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica, I met Aida Bustamante. She is working with “Friends of the Osa” to understand “the population dynamics and extent of habitat necessary to support large mammals on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica” (http://www.osaconservation.org/CameraTrapProject.html). To conduct her work, Aida needs support from private landowners and is reliant on private donations. Not only did she conceive, plan and executes the project, she is personally delivering presentations in English and Spanish almost daily throughout the region to rally support and change attitudes about habitat destruction, poaching, and other factors. She is literally a one-woman show with boundless energy and has infectious passion for her work. It’s nice to see a young leader walk the talk, and she is certainly not in it for fame, money or personal recognition. She sees the Wild Cats Project as an umbrella dynamic – that is, saving the predators at the top of the food chain keeps the entire ecosystem in check. Her work is certainly fascinating, but her leadership is just as intriguing. She talks about how important the “connections” are for habitat corridors, and the work she’s conducting is all about connections: Connections between schools, conservation groups, eco-lodges, private landowners, the local economies, and getting her work out through other organization’s newsletters. That’s leadership and she’s definitely one to watch!

Self Reliance on the Colorado Trail

2009-06-21T21:45:00.027-06:00

Purpose, Planning and Focus. That’s what I thought about over the course of backpacking 16 hours covering 40 miles. And how much my feet hurt!

Regarding purpose – that was easy. I needed some quiet alone time to just plain reflect. What surprised me was how I would try to focus on a topic I wanted to think about, and how easy it was to get distracted by the trail. With 5,500 feet of climbing, a lot of attention would go to where each step was placed on which rocks. Not unlike the daily distractions that come with leadership challenges.

The nice thing about backpacking is the planning and preparation. I like looking at maps and imagining what the trail will be like. With experience, you can predict and foresee challenges from studying maps. I also enjoy planning the logistics of food and equipment based on weather, terrain and the duration of the trip. Planning is an ongoing endeavor, and even on the trail, adjustments and modifications are needed.

Regarding focus, being 20 miles into a wilderness area requires focus and attention, because cell phones don’t work, and rescue could take a long time. Focus means paying attention to water sources, terrain, weather, animals (i.e., rattlesnakes and bears), and purpose. If my main goal was to just plain reflect (and have fun), I needed to make sure I was stopping to smell the Columbines!

As to self-reliant leadership, my reflections focused on making sure that when you’re planning, you’re planning. When you’re executing, to make sure you focus. And to make sure that where you spend your time is consistent with your overall purpose. No outright epiphany per se on this excursion, but a little physical hardship is always a good way to appreciate all the things that are easy to take for granted.

Change represents modern day adventure

2009-06-16T18:51:00.009-06:00

It is a secret both in nature and state, that it is safer to change many things than one. ––Sir Francis Bacon

In the past month, I watched my daughter graduate from college, and marry her high school sweet heart in a emotional and perfect ceremony on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.

In the same period, my son came home on leave from West Point, and we took a trip to Maui where we cycled up Haleakala, and later scaled Mt. Princeton in Colorado.

The month of May also represented a major change with my career. I decided to leave a public company for a small private venture where the focus is on rapidly responding to market needs.

I am taking the rest of the month off, and over the next few weeks, plan to hike a significant portion of the Colorado Trail solo, and then head to Costa Rica with my wife to celebrate our 25th anniversary. That is a lot of change in one month, and most people have reacted by saying, “I wish I could take a month off.”

Here is what I learned: The changes I personally made were difficult as the status quo would have been “easier.” The decision to make a career change is always difficult. Does the opportunity better align with my personal values? What will others think? What if I did nothing? What opportunity would I be losing/gaining? Self Reliant Leadership is nothing if not about personal change.

Successful leaders have a passion for which they are willing to sacrifice other "comfortable" circumstances. Some people term this passion as hunger while others have describe it as persistence and determination. What follows are what it takes to affect change – first in yourself – and then in others.

Consideration
At this moment, am I in the midst of gathering information, reflecting, assessing, and processing past events in my life? Do I know what is holding me back from where I want to be?

Intention
What are the consequences of not changing (i.e., status quo), and what do I envision as a future state?

Planning
Only one requirement here – have I recorded milestones with due dates? The milestones include what I do by when and is central to diligent time management.

Commitment
Is my passion a powerful desire? Do I have the courage to act? Passion and desire are what distinguishes those with an intense purpose.

Sacrifice
If I start something, what will I need to stop doing (e.g., time wasters)? Am I willing to make a sacrifice and leave my comfort zone to advance my own agenda?

Discipline
Can I stick with it, maintain consistency, and not procrastinate? Does my behavior demonstrate uncanny persistence and determination?

Action
Am I working my plan and hitting the milestones? Am I measuring success and adjusting appropriately to inevitable setbacks?

Habit
Has the new behavior become a habit where it no longer feels like a sacrifice?

Character
Has the habit become so ingrained as to become part of who I am? What are the next steps in my personal growth?

Think about what long-term substantive change means for your personal and professional life. Chances are, you are comfortable. Change requires some level of discomfort, and as humans, we are geared to maintain our own status quo. It might be cliché, but great achievements require great sacrifices.

Think about the people you most admire. Chances are very good that they faced, embraced and adapted to overcome some type of adversity while leaving a zone of comfort. Now think about how this applies to your desire to LEAD CHANGE with others?

Adaptability is not imitation. It means power of resistance and assimilation. ––Mahatma Gandhi

Mount Princeton – A lesson in humility

2009-06-13T08:02:00.003-06:00

I climbed to the summit of Mt. Princeton in Colorado with my son and his best friend yesterday, and it was spectacular (http://www.14ers.com/routemain.php?route=prin1&peak=Mt.+Princeton). While climbing, I thought about all the leadership analogies with scaling a mountain, and what I might write about that I learned during the climb. After all, there are 9,159 books on Amazon with the word Summit in the title. I couldn’t really concentrate during the climb, because my son and his best friend kept up a non-stop banter of jokes. Basically, they recited they’re favorite movie lines, and practiced their repertoire of put-downs on each other. It was amusing, and I got a lesson in the latest nuances of pop-culture not readily available to the middle-aged. More importantly, they provided the inspiration for what I needed to learn about the summit and leadership. They showed me the missing ingredient from all the other analogies of leadership and summits: The most beautiful word in the English language… Humility. Through their joking, both young men insured a modest opinion of each other’s own importance and status. It was a difficult climb with a lot of snow still on the mountain, but they kept the journey fun. And in business today, fun seems to have taken a back seat. Perhaps the humility demonstrated by two 19-year old young men, bound for careers as army officers, is a needed lesson for the rest of us in our daily summit quests.

Climbing, Patience and Haleakala

2009-06-06T12:36:00.005-06:00

On June 4th, I left Paia, Maui on the coast with my son on a 37 mile bicycle trek to the top of Haleakala at 10,000 feet above the sea. It took us just over five hours to make it to the top, and a better day could not have been had. The interesting thing about setting off on a ride like this is that you know it will be an adventure, and that the outcome is uncertain.

We left the beach area as the sun was rising off our left shoulders, and the normally windy area of sugar cane fields was surprisingly calm. The lack of wind made conversation on the bikes easier than normal, and we talked about everything and nothing in particular.

I told my son all along the way that I am never certain of making it to the summit until the last mile. There are too many things that can go wrong. The weather could be rainy, dangerously foggy, or unbearably windy. The rented bikes could have mechanical issues - like a broken chain. And if one doesn’t fuel properly, the body can decide not to cooperate at altitude! My mantra was two things along the way: Patience, because we’ll be able to see the goal almost the whole way, and it doesn’t get close soon enough. And stay fueled, so as not to bonk (run out of fuel and energy), which means eating when you’re not hungry.

We passed through Makawao and noticed the Veteran’s Cemetery with fresh flags on every grave from Memorial Day. Others’ sacrifices have much more meaning since my son is a cadet at West Point. The road got steeper, and we realized we were only one-fifth of the way with regard to elevation gain. It was hot, humid and we were sweating profusely. Patience would definitely be a virtue for this climb.

We rode through groves of Eucalyptus trees and appreciated the sanctuaries of shade. My son commented that it was a pretty enjoyable ride so far, and not too bad despite the steep grade the entire way. At the National Park entrance, we paid our way and were informed that we “only” had eleven miles and 3,000 feet up to go. For us, that translated to two hours of a steep and slow climb. Patience…

You have no doubt heard of the analogies between climbing a mountain and achieving life’s goals. That was the great thing about this ride. In less than six hours, I was able to run a gambit of emotions with my son and jointly celebrate the accomplishment of a noteworthy achievement. We had planning, trepidation, commitment, sacrifice (we got up at 4:00 AM), a little courage, determination and perseverance. Best of all, we have a great memory that was the adventure. Like life, the journey is what mattered most – not the posing for a picture at the summit.

Three Questions About Your Life:

2009-05-20T21:48:00.008-06:00

1. What was the earliest adversity you faced, and how did it affect your life?

2. What’s your passion and purpose in life?

3. If all your responsibilities and obligations were lifted for one year, what would you do?

Take the survey: http://bit.ly/MGtvZ

RESPONSES...

1. What was the earliest adversity you faced, and how did it affect your life?

Lost my Mother to Cancer when I was 13. Don't really know the true affect, don't know how I would be different today had she not passed when she did. I do know I learned there will always be brighter days and in order to see them you have to keep moving forward.
Dysfunctional, alcoholic family environment. Has hurt me in business in terms of damaged confidence, difficulty showing passion/emotion for things, etc. However, I have had to adapt and overcome those things in order to be successful.
My sister was born with Down’s syndrome and a poorly working heart. I was four when she was born She was given a year or two tops to live. She’s now 30 and a Special Olympics gold medalist. She has educated me in so many ways to the extent that it’s hard to see that was an adversity for me at all.
I'm going to answer this question as the first significant adversity that produced a uniquely distinguished life altering outcome/change in my person. When I was 18, the foundation of my beliefs and support structure from family to religion was eroded. I had to learn what was in fact truth, and what if anything was absolute if absolutes can be determined. As a result my core beliefs in God were refined, my reliance or belief in people and the definition of my personal purpose redefined, and the principles of my personhood tested and strengthened.
I cannot think of the adversity but I learned early on that you control your own destiny.
That you need to control what you can and make the best of any situation. I also learned early on that you should be happy doing whatever you are doing.
Being teased about being so skinny. To this day while I am thin, I keep myself in very good muscular shape. In some ways, I am still trying to silence the teasers with being in the best shape a 46 year old could be. It also made me a "pleaser"...I did not try to fight the teasing; I tried to make them "like" me. To this day, I am always trying to make the customer happy rather than fight them.
Boarding school. It made me love where I live and feel lonely when I travel.
The earliest I remember was my older brother starting school when I was only three; bored, I taught myself how to read.
Moving frequently. Still move a lot, rely primarily on self.
My father lost his job and we were very poor. It affected me through developing a strong sense of self reliance, commitment and a strong work ethic -- sometimes too strong.
When I had my house broken into, and all of my college money was stolen. Devastated, then may favorite Aunt and Uncle came through and reimbursed me. I try to pay it forward whenever I can with people who aren't as blessed as I am
My parents divorce, It taught me nothing is forever, everything is changing.
Being diagnosed with kyphosis, lordosis and scoliosis in grade 7. I was fitted for a Milwaukee back brace, and started wearing it the second week of 8th grade. However, we had moved in the summer between 7th and 8th grade, and I went from a large suburban school to a small rural school. I was immediately ostracized, bullied and heckled. This lasted for over a year and well into 10th grade. I learned to ignore the ridicule, how to move around under adverse conditions, and learned how to determine who to really trust. This has affected me in that I'm now able to see people in many different ways, and have learned better how and who to trust in both personal and work life.

2. What’s your passion and purpose in life?

My family.
Further God's Kingdom in various ways, including prison ministry; spend as much time with my wife, kids, and someday grandkids as possible, and teaching the grandkids what I can about life, fishing, outdoors, etc.
Grow myself, my family and have work in harmony with the Oceans.
To help people while standing up for what is right.
To make sure my family is healthy and happy.
My purpose to be the best person I can be so that someday my kids will do the same. If I can do that, I have not only helped my own kids, but I will have helped many others along the way. It is my hope that my kids will not be perfect, but will at their core do the right thing and treat others the right way most of the time. Before kids, it was my first company, but now that seems silly in comparison.
Teaching people less fortunate than me.
Teaching others how to be happy by changing how they think.
Curious to explore and challenge life and give back more than I take.
My passion and purpose are to develop people to be the best they can be. This applies to my family, work and church life
Serve the Lord by serving others
Personal freedom to pursue the life of your choosing from a place of utter awareness and the means to share this with others
I want to be remembered by someone for something I told them that has affected them positively. But I really don't want or need to know that its happened.

3. If all your responsibilities and obligations were lifted for one year, what would you do?

I've always said that if I won the lottery I would donate my time to a non-profit charity.
For just one year, that's difficult. I would catch up on many of the little things that slip past when we're busy and find a way to make a difference for someone.
Give as much time to prison ministry, church, family and fishing as possible.
Explore the ocean and spend time educating people about its beauty, and bring my daughter and wife along for the ride.
I would invest all the time and resource I could muster to affect the current political state of our nation at a grass roots level.
I would spend time with my family.
To be truthful, I have been in this spot two times, and both times I have done the same thing. My daughter was year old when I sold the first company and my son was a year old when I sold the second. I spent time with the kids, coached their sport, spent time with my parents and tried to play golf. I have not done what others dream about, travel the world, and stay in faraway places, but I think I have made good time with the time I have...I love my wife and kids and have tried to do the right thing.
Train more, run more, spend more time with friends.
Spend more time with my daughter and wife, and still have time to write six books.
Travel and volunteer for projects around the world.
Spend lots of time with the family and focus on continued development of my mind, body and spirit.
I would finish my book, and try to launch a part time consultancy
Form a rock n roll band and tour the world!
Take my family to the mountains and enjoy life as a service provider (working in a bike shop, bartending during the day, trail guide, etc.).

On Self Reliance

2009-05-10T13:41:00.003-06:00

Self Reliance and Leadership may seem to be contradictory notions, but in essence, they are mutually supporting. In my classes on leadership, there are always three concepts the students say were aha moments. The first is that leadership requires Self-awareness. A leader needs to understand his or her strengths, shortcomings, and how those traits affect their ability to create willing followers. The second is Selflessness. A leaders needs to have a steadfast passion for serving others, and that requires putting others first. Lastly, Self Reliance is essential because leading means being out front, and there are more naysayers than supporters when trail blazing. By example, Self Reliant Leaders also develop followers that have initiative, persistence, and determination. Self-awareness, Selflessness and Self Reliance are the three character traits that are the lifelong pursuit of effective and outstanding leaders.

The wisdom of a young taxi driver

2009-04-17T19:07:00.002-06:00

I was at a tradeshow this week in Washington D.C. with a whole horde of very smart people so, it was a bit of a surprise the most interesting person I met was a taxi driver. I got in a cab after a day of meetings, and unlike most drivers, he greeted me warmly and seemed quite sincere when he asked how I was doing. I was coming from a business dinner and I was tired. With a sigh, I told him I was fine, and asked out of courtesy how he was doing. He said, “I am doing great! Thank you for asking. Where are you from?”

That’s usually what I ask cab drivers, because I like to guess based on different accents. I told him I was from Colorado and asked where he was from. It was the start of a captivating conversation.

The driver was from Eritrea (East Africa). He came to the U.S. in 2002. I asked him what prompted him to move here knowing a little of the history of civil war with Ethiopia. He told me his parents were killed when he was fifteen, so he lied about his age and joined the fight with his brothers. He spent six months training to become a soldier in the army. He then spent four years fighting, and his brothers were all killed during the conflict. Ultimately, he was badly burned and shot. He spent two and half years recovering in a hospital. He described an apparatus that hoisted him above the bed to keep his wounds off the sheets. He said the contraption was more like a torture device that kept his arms and legs bound. At a traffic light, he showed me the burn scars on his lower legs.

He then said in a matter of fact response, “It was bad, but it showed me my purpose.” I asked him what that purpose is, and he laughed and said, “To be positive.”

I tried to empathize with what he had been through and asked him his age. He said he was thirty years old, but looked much older. His younger sister is his only surviving family member, and he is working to put her through school at George Mason University. When she completes her studies, he wants to go back to school full-time and finish his studies to become a radiology technician. I asked if his purpose was to take care of his sister. He said, “Of course – but I have to be positive to do that!”

Lastly, I asked him if he thought the war should have been avoided. To my surprise, he said, “They will never attack us again – they have enough problems with Somalia.” And he fell silent. That was not the response I expected. I thought he would say that his suffering was for naught, but there was no self-pity.

There were many well-spoken speakers at the tradeshow with impressive credentials. They were all well educated, affluent, and successful by all conventional measures – business leaders, policy wonks, celebrity activists… Nevertheless, I was most inspired by the thirty-year-old taxi driver from Eritrea who remains positively in control of his outlook despite a young life of utter anguish. There are those whose aim it is to inspire, but this man’s singular example of overcoming great suffering to make a difference was utterly refreshing. Life’s challenges are truly relative, but those trials can serve as a crucible where character is illuminated, tested and strengthened.

The Source of Power?

2009-03-01T16:05:00.004-07:00

Teaching and coaching can be synonymous when the objective is to guide people to the source of their own power. Both teaching and coaching are fundamental skills required to become an effective leader.

Consider the people that have truly touched your life. Chances are they mentored you in some way – i.e., they illuminated and brought out a passion that you developed into a strength. The teacher/mentor/coach truly demonstrated leadership by communicating to you in a clear, respectful, stimulating and consistent manner.

Early in my career, I had a manager that was often misunderstood by his peers in the organization. He was an intellectual and he did not fit in with the typical, country-club executives (something I admired). What I learned from him was how to be a keen observer, and he always astounded me by seeing things other didn’t. He not only heard what was spoken, but he heard what was said. He could interpret body language in the context of group dynamics, and he was able to watch a leader’s nuances affect on others. Even more remarkably, he had total recall of interpersonal interactions.

During performance reviews, his observations demonstrated a total commitment to my development, and that led to trust, respect and loyalty. His observations helped me discover where I needed to adjust and he was extremely patient in helping me come up with solutions that I could commit to – that is, changes I needed to make in my behavior. He simply asked me questions that led me to take a step back and analyze the situation from a different perspective. His approach taught me a valuable lesson: Questions are a powerful leadership tool; and formulate questions for yourself about your own performance (e.g., What happened? Why? What could I have done differently? Why didn’t this occur at the time? How can I insure a better outcome the next time?).

Teaching and coaching contain the following components:
· Setting and Assessing performance standards
· Giving and receiving feedback (rewards and punishment)
· Managing disruptive and negative individuals

In “Coaching for Improved Work Performance” by Ferdinand F. Fournies, the author outlined a simple 5-step process for most coaching opportunities, and these can be applied to coaching your own performance:

1. Get agreement that a problem exists
· This is the hardest and most time-consuming part, because you are asking someone that may not have high self-awareness to focus on how his or her behavior/performance affects others and results. This is also the most important step, because if you can't get agreement here, you will not end up with commitment

2. Mutually discuss alternative solutions
· You will get the best results if the person being coached has a lot of say-so in the solution - the "how" they will improve. This is also where you will see commitment to change and the "how" they will improve

3. Mutually agree on action to be taken to solve the problem
· Be clear that you both have the same expectations for what will occur (i.e., what will change)

4. Follow-up to measure results
· You can't expect what you don't inspect. To measure is to manage.

5. Recognize any achievement when it occurs
· Most importantly, catch people doing things right!

So the source of power is… The Art of the Question!

The things we know best are the things we haven't been taught.
––Marquis De Vauvenargues

A dozen questions to understand what motivates a team...

2009-02-21T18:50:00.006-07:00

1. What in your background helped you decide to join this team?

2. Describe the team you work with.

3. Tell me about your role on the team.

4. What are the biggest challenges you face?

5. How do you prioritize your week?

6. How did you choose your career path?

7. What do you like most about the current environment?

8. If you could change anything about the organization, what would it be and why?

9. What criteria have you used to make career decisions?

10. What is your process for making tough decisions?

11. How do measure personal success?

12. What are your expectations over the next year?

*What are the questions you ask to take the pulse of a team?

Three Questions for Leaders

2007-10-13T07:43:00.001-06:00

I recently asked 41 leaders three questions:

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why?

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?

The 22 responses I received present fascinating and varied perspectives:

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CEO, Coaching and Consulting Practice

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
The best advice I ever received was on the importance of really listening, what I would call global listening. When two people come together, the experience is almost always dominated by words. The leader has to raise the game or raise the interaction by truly listening, without judgment, which requires a suspension of assumptions. This allows people in one's organization to explore their own solutions, take responsibility for their own answers, builds their resourcefulness and increases trust. This kind of listening is not passive, and the impact is profound. Let me give you an example. As the primary person responsibility for building clients for our company, I am "pitching" constantly. The last two contracts we were awarded were worth over $60,000. After we were finished with the contracting phase, I couldn't help but ask why did they select us over 7 other national training firms. The answer came back the same both times: you were the only one who really listened to what we needed, and asked questions and designed a program from there.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why?
The greatest example of leadership was constantly displayed by my Great Grandfather, Senator Burton Kendall Wheeler. This US Senator from Montana was known for his uncompromising integrity, an uncanny ability to create relationships, (even with his enemies) and an unrelenting commitment to questioning the status quo. Growing up with him and being in his presence left quite an impression on me...and on Congress. As President Harry Truman said about him, "one of the greatest periods of my life has been my association with Burton Wheeler."
There was a movie about him, a classic Jimmy Stewart entitled, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

When (Stewart's character) idealistic junior senator Jefferson Smith arrives in Washington, he's full of plans and dazzled by the history of his surroundings -- qualities he retains even in the face of widespread corruption on the part of his colleagues. In this Academy Award-winning classic from director Frank Capra, we get to see him having his hopes dashed by the unstoppable, repressive Washington scene.
Smith had come so hopeful. As he sat downtrodden and dispirited, beneath Lincoln on the Washington Monument, his assistant Saunders says: "good comes from 'fools with faith' like you." He persevered and the rest is history.
Mr. Smith, or Burton Kendall Wheeler, during his 22 year tenure in the Senate, and his 1924 run for Vice President, had seven children, all "fools with the same kind of faith," who became exceptional leaders dedicated to public service. The point is, I know all about this kind of foolishness.
His eldest daughter, my grandmother, helped found the Young Democrats and a Planned Parenthood chapter, was a Washington lobbyist and a known author.
The two of them together taught me about the power of perseverance, and to remain grounded in your own personal ethics, no matter what.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
The greatest learning I have had as a leader was the process of becoming a professional coach. The depth of skill around self awareness and management of my blind spots has made me into the leader I am today. It taught me the power of feedback, the power of holding myself and others accountable, and how important fearlessness is in today's leaders.

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Chief Clinical Informatics Officer and Physician, Healthcare IT Organization

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
A couple of different sources have conveyed the message that leadership is about successful processes for defining a vision of what needs to be done and empowering and supporting good folks who are energized by that vision so that they can help realize it. This seems like the essence of it all.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why?
John Kotter and his books on leadership (Leading Change, The Heart of Change). His material conveys a practical, thoughtful approach to thinking about what leadership means, and how to get the critical things that need to be done accomplished.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
Although I haven't had traditional exec leadership roles with responsibility for people and budgets, I've gotten some useful, large-scale projects executed by following the idea outlined in the answer to question 1. When you can clearly articulate the picture on the cover of the puzzle box, and share that picture clearly and passionately with other key stakeholders, the puzzle pieces will appear, and (with proper nurturing and support) practically assemble themselves. (This is happening right now with an effort to produce a practical guidebook for improving medication management, safety and outcomes in healthcare delivery organizations; dozens of individuals from many healthcare organizations on 2 continents are coming together to produce this information that will be co-published next year by 4 leading non-profit healthcare/information organizations.)

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President, Executive Leadership Forum

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
Leadership is about serving others and making other people around you happy.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why?
Sam Addoms, the founder of Frontier Airlines inspired me because of his ability to execute and give all the glory to others around him. He inspired me to be a humble leader.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
Growing up and in college, I was the leader and captain of my various sports teams and was also the leader in any extracurricular activities. This gave me the grounding and experience in leading and guiding people towards a goal.

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Director of Learning & Organizational Development & former Air Force Colonel, Engineering Consulting Firm

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
To just be authentic and be myself. We all have strengths and one job of a good leader is to create the environment that allows the strengths of each individual to come out freely so the sum total of his/her team provide a synergy that generates strong results.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why?
I had a CEO, Paul Reilly, of a former company that operated from strong values and principles. I got to see how easy decision making, problem solving and dealing with any kind of issue can be if you just come at the situation with a strong principle-based approach.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
My flying experience with a crew of 10 people probably taught me my most important lesson early on. People support what they help create. By involving people in decision making, etc. you not only get the best ideas (it takes lots of ideas to get the best ideas), you also get the support of the people in implementation which is critical. The best ideas not supported or implemented are worthless. I involved my flying crew in just about every decision and we achieved exceptional results -- together

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Former President, University of Colorado

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
Be strong in your own beliefs, but always be open to hearing/listening to the opinions/advice from others. I think leadership is best exemplified if the "leader" is open and honest in seeking the input and advice from others, and doesn't simply lead by "blind" will or determination.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why
President Ronald Reagan. I have recently read The Reagan Diaries and have been additional impressed with his leadership characteristics; e.g. unwavering commitment to his beliefs and not swayed by political pressures, leading by core values and beliefs and not by political expediency, constantly seeking the advice from others he trusted, leading with grace and humor, and leadership from a humble and understated manner.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
The opportunity to serve as CU President for a brief period. It was unlike any work experience I have had or ever will have. The wide range of constituent interests which were often in conflict with one another, the breadth of the position in terms of internal and external issues which were extremely varied and complex, and the daily unpredictability of what new issues would come across the desk challenged my abilities and leadership skills in unbelievable ways.

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COO, Multi-site Automotive Dealer

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
To lead, you need to understand the chemistry and motivational characteristics of the group you are leading. Why?....Cohesive and competitive groups are motivated by accomplishment and success. A “group of individuals” are lead more by “reward” for individual achievement. To lead successfully, you need to possess the characteristics in question 2.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why
A Top Ranking Toyota Executive, inspired me the most. He is an intriguing combination of personable, firm, fair, knowledgeable, motivated, MANIPULATIVE and blessed with incredible long term vision. Why? I feel that to lead you need to possess all of the characteristics. The proper balance of these characteristics/attributes is a perpetual challenge.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
The leadership experience that taught me the most…..was quite sad! I learned when people make requests, that are far from the norm, you need to ask at least 5 WHYS! A Japanese Management practice. In a nutshell, I learned that the 3 and ½ week vacation request was to serve a JAIL term! For an unforgivable crime! Not to participate in a civil trial. Why? I learned to respond decisively to dishonesty.

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Account Manager, Pharmaceutical Company

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
Mr. Kauffman, who owned the KC Royals and Marion Labs, said "Reward Those Who Produce and Treat Others The Way You Want To Be Treated. "

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why
Lou Holtz, coached Notre Dame, said "Do What Is Right, Do Your Best, and Treat Others The Way You Want To Be Treated." He also asked his players "Can I Trust You, Do You Care, and Are You Committed?" He also expected his players to ask him the same 3 questions.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
Being a Senior Regional Account Manager for Sanofi-Aventis for 14 years has taught me that the philosophies & principals of Mr. Kauffman and Lou Holtz are important if you want to be a successful Leader. Additionally, I've learned that you need to be Passionate about what you do. You need to understand your customers' business and meet their needs. You need to have a Strategic Focus. Other Leadership behaviors that are important include: Goal Focus, Executing Priorities, Collaborating & Networking, Influencing, Resource Management, Qualifying Needs, Responsiveness, Planning, Innovation, Analytical thinking, Flexibility, Forward Thinking & Planning.

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Founder & CEO, IT Consulting Practice

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
Be HONEST always … being a leader is not easy, you need to deliver the honest facts to all people, you’ll gain the teams respect

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why?
My business partner, under difficult situations – cross cultural situations and highly complex IT solutions his team always delivered world stage events without failure

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
When I ran a division for a multinational in Japan with 22 Japanese and I was the lone American, on how to win my teams trust as a leader and run a business with all the cultural and business differences … we eliminated the personal / national issues and focused on solving business issues … and celebrated the wins and losses as a team.

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CEO, Healthcare Organization

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
Not to confuse social conformity or group consensus with leadership. Leadership demands information-gathering and opinion cultivation to be sure; however, it is the resolute application of those through decisive action that defines and identifies successful leaders.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why
Winston Churchill. There have been, are, and will be, enduring qualities of leadership: inspiration, subordination of one’s self-interest to that of the group, commitment to excellence in conduct and ideals, and a rigorous sense of purpose........even in the face of debilitating odds and oppression.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
That the marginal difference between average, good, and outstanding is one of nominal perseverance. For me, this lesson was forged through difficulty and challenge. This, for me, is best captured by Ross Perot, when someone asked him what makes him so successful. His answer (paraphrased): "I can tolerate more pain than most". I think perseverance is the most undervalued characteristic of leadership. (An example was one where) the markets had made a determination that we would not be a viable company (trading at < $.02/share). Resolute in both our determination and resolve, we made some very difficult decisions (e.g., down-sizing), re-dedicated ourselves and persevered through the difficulty. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
General Manager, Large Bicycle Company

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
It’s not one big thing that makes a business successful, it’s all the little pieces done well that really influence positive change and growth.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why
I’ve had to learn and accept my leadership style. I’m not my father who started this business 35 years ago. He was the entrepreneur that created this business and loves to jump on solutions quickly. Now that we have up to 70 employees, it takes more time to make big adjustments. However, the little stuff can happen quickly as long as the employees know what’s coming.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
My experience so far has show that most issues in our business stem from a lack of communication. Employees and customers like to know what’s going on and what to expect. Change is bad when people don’t know what’s going on. Additionally, people communicate differently, not one form of communication is going to work for everyone.

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President & CEO, Chamber of Commerce

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
Two thoughts—a) Good pre-planning makes actual execution dramatically easier in all leadership challenges, and b) “We all have two ears and one mouth” consequently being a good listener is perhaps twice as important as being a good spokesperson;

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why
My father was a tremendous role-model for me in the sense he could communicate well with the typically upscale Board Room while also smoothly implementing frequently complicated strategic direction through his direct reports using effective delegation of both responsibility and authority; and

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
My service as a Platoon Leader at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia where I led an array of post-Vietnam service troops—challenges included short-term morale concerns, disrespect for authority, post-traumatic stress psychiatric issues as well as frequent chemical dependency—all of which make the typical day in the traditional office setting seem somewhat mundane.

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Entrepreneur, Coaching and Consulting Practice

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
Unfortunately, no one ever sat down with me and tutored me on leadership. What I now know and promote to my clients is a collection of both positive and negative experiences and observations. But what I know now is that people have a difficult time leaving an environment they are happy in, the most valuable player is usually one who makes all the other players on the team better and that I worked a lot harder for people who made me feel I was important.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why
This is a no-brainer, Father Fred (McCallan) he never asked for money but could raise it by the bushel. You just wanted to be around him because you felt better there. He made you want to do more by thanking you for all you have done. He was a visionary who could see things through your eyes.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
When I first started coaching youth football, during a game a parent walked up to me and told me it wasn't very productive for me to call the kids bucket heads etc. in front of everyone. I had to agree. It's funny where you find light switches.

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Retired Air Force General

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
Take care of your people and they will take care of our mission. Taking care covers many forms….developing competence, commitment and character are a few expressions of care. Looking out for our people’s whole life including engaging in personal coaching and looking after the well being of their families during good and bad times are also acts of caring.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why
Mahatma Gandhi……the remarkable force of a positive, others centered, servant-leader belief system. Such power (force and the will to apply it) leads to “empowering” self. Leaders don’t empower people. People empower themselves by developing understanding of what is right and wrong and acting in the context of what is right. Leaders create an environment of respect for one another’s right-mindedness and potential. This is the stuff of empowerment.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
Aiming High !! My first duty assignment in the military was to join an Air Force – Industrial team to catch and overtake the Soviets with their space program.
After huge investments of our nations resources (time, skills, money, international relationships, broken families, etc) and technical failures we achieved our purpose. Later our nation and its NATO allies decided on an “Aim High” strategy to end the cold war by applying our military-industrial-technological might. We did it by bankrupting the Soviets through the development and fielding the cruise missile program…..a program that expanded the political, social, technology and economic capabilities of the Soviets beyond their limits. Michail Gorbachev exercised the virtue of remarkable courage and transformed the belief system of the Soviets and ended the cold war peacefully…….making real the vision of the US Military belief that “Peace is our Profession.” Aim High !!

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Architect & Founder, IT Consulting Practice

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
1a. "This is not the highest form which civilization can reach. The highest form that civilization can reach is a seamless web of deserved trust. Not much procedure, just totally reliable people correctly trusting one another. That's the way an operating room works at the Mayo Clinic. If a bunch of lawyers were to introduce a lot of process, the patients would all die." - Charlie Munger
1b. “I am right and you are smart and eventually you will realize I am right” - Charlie Munger

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why
Gates, Torvalds, Munger

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
getting a pen thrown at me by a high up director at NASDAQ, but I knew I was right and he was wrong. See quote 1b.

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CEO, Supply Chain Solution Company for Banking Industry

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
The best advice I received relates to communications.
As a leader, it's incredibly important to know your audience in both formal and informal settings and think about what you are saying and the implications it can generate before blurting it out. Many people form opinions based on who is delivering a message and not just the content of what's being said, and I've witnessed the inadvertent damage that can be done when leaders don't take that extra minute to "think".
Many leaders also sometimes fail to recognize the "opportunity cost" of making requests to others who work for them. In the interest of pleasing the "boss", many individuals will drop what they are doing in order to deliver a timely response or deliverable. However, that can often come at the expense of other potentially higher value initiatives that fall down the heap. Prioritization is something that leaders must continually keep in mind, especially as companies attempt to run lean and can only accomplish a handful of concurrent initiatives effectively.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why?
I have been inspired by many leaders across various fields, from noted business and political leaders to sports personalities and coaches that have led teams to achieve great goals to individuals that I've met on a personal level in educational, religious or other settings. I don't have a single person that I can say has had the most inspiration on me; rather, I often look at the level of passion and conviction that an individual dedicates to whatever business, mission or cause occupies the vast majority of their time and look for how that passion translates into programs and measurable results that truly make a difference within the "world" in which that leader operates. I then try to assimilate those various instances into my own actions when seeking inspiration.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
Having been a part of a management team during the various phases of growth, maturation and times of conflict that faced a former business of mine formed the basis of the most valuable experience I've had in leadership. Over the course of less than nine years, I was in a senior role with an organization that had gone from a turnaround situation through an IPO, experienced multiple acquisitions and divestitures, issues with management change and ultimately sale of the company. As the head of a business unit that was forced to downsize at one point during this evolution, I learned the value of being straightforward and direct with people, especially when the news wasn't always rosy. I also learned to be adaptive to change, and not to prejudge situations until accumulating enough direct experience to properly form an opinion and act accordingly. There were also situations where I wasn't in direct control of a business unit, but was responsible for various elements of its operation, leading to the need to manage in a matrix environment and provide guidance to individuals across functional areas. The sum of these experiences has taught me that leadership is really all about thinking and acting in a way that earns you the respect of others and enables them to act in a fashion that is characteristic of how you would act yourself, for the purpose of achieving a collective outcome beyond what you could do individually.

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Sales Director, Pharmaceutical Company

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
Two things that my dad told me when I worked as a laborer for him in his masonry business
- make every move count
- have a system
It has enabled me to focus on the right things, and to think things through

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why?
Jesus has most inspired me b/c leadership in many ways is love and self-sacrifice when done right. It's what Jim Collins says about Level 5 leadership in Good to Great. Only authenticity and pure motives have sustainability when it comes to people.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
Building a team of 65 reps and 6 managers and the following principle has taught me the most. "We intensely care about performance and people, and it shows." I spent two years of my business life working on that. My whole career has been a leadership experience, as I have built up my own list of do's and don'ts from observing others.
Two other thoughts on leadership.
"You need to learn how to step on people's toes without taking the shine off their shoes."-- Regional Manager for a Pharmaceutical company speaking on manager interpersonal skills
Knowing that "doing things right" is management. "Doing right things" is leadership.

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Humanitarian and Founder, Peace Organization

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
"In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." Mark Twain.
You can replace "patriot" with leader and Twain's observation is great advice. I think it is important for people to know that sometimes being a leader means staying true to your values even if everyone else will try to persecute you for doing this. I have also found the famous saying "success has many fathers/mothers and failure is an orphan" very accurate.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why?
Jesus. His message that it is more important to save your soul than save your life inspires me to love other people, especially people who do not agree with me.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
I think the military leadership experience was my most educational. I was able to see good people working together for all the right reasons and clear examples of both excellent and poor leadership. I rarely found leaders of the same quality in the business world.

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Entrepreneur, Healthcare Consulting Practice

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
Your reputation proceeds you and your deeds follow you, this is important so you
understand the future impact of what you do.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why?
Fred Wasserman was my mentor early in my career in managed care.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
A class in situational ledership I took while at Aetna.

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President, Wellness Organization

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
Always be willing to do what you ask others to do. I think it is important to understand what your staff do in their day to day lives. Listen to them and then act confidently and in a timely fashion.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why?
There have been many people that have taught me things throughout my life. I can’t say that I have had someone that inspired me from a leadership perspective.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
The first time I had to lay someone off from their job taught me a lot. Being a small business allows for all staff positions to feel like extended family. However, business is business and sometimes layoffs happen due to things that are not in your control.

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Retired Sales Vice President, Pharmaceutical Company

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
Leadership starts with doing the "right thing." It also includes treating others as you would like to be treated. And, very importantly, don't ask others to do something you wouldn't do. Lastly, people deep down want to know if they can trust you and really care about them as a person. With people growth comes company growth follows. A great leader will give their people a chance to grow and flourish. Remember, everyone wants to be treated with dignity and respect

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why?
Bob Ingram, the former President for GSK, inspired me the most. He led by example, and blended a keen business mind with high interpersonal skills. His attitude was always positive...and he was humble...always credited those around him with his success.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
It is easy to lead in "great times." However, a true measurement of one's ability to lead is when things get tough. It is in times of difficulty that people will look to their leadership. How you react will have a great bearing on those that you lead.

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Vice President Operations, Largest Healthcare organization in the U.S.

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
The need for control and coordination can inadvertently undermine your employees' ability to be creative & to act on their innovative ideas. Understand when to jump in and make the deep dive, and more importantly, know when to stand back and allow your team to make their way.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why?
The president of a managed care company I worked for previously, who is now deceased. While not a well known persona, he inspired me greatly. He taught me to have fun, to make something of this work we do as leaders, and he taught me about influence. The power of influence, when used in a positive way, has a significant and sustainable impact on the people you lead and, therefore, on your ability to achieve the organization's goals.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
The experience that taught me the most was a system conversion that failed to go live as planned & the consequences. The lessons ranged from supporting each member of the team without blame, to acting in reality, to crisis management, and to more tactical aspects of contingency planning. Some of my greatest learnings have grown out of difficult challenges.

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Speaker of the House, State Legislature

1. What was the best advice you ever received on leadership and why?
Use your mouth and your ears in the same ratio God gave them to you.

2. From a leadership perspective, who has most inspired you and why?
I am inspired by Robert Kennedy, who (relatively late in life) pursued – and inspired a nation to join – a fight against poverty.

3. What leadership experience taught you the most and why?
The negotiations that produced Referendum C taught me the danger of making the perfect the enemy of the good.

50 Questions for Leaders

2007-06-07T21:44:00.001-06:00

SELF-AWARENESS
1. In less than a minute, what is your life story and purpose?
2. What are your greatest strengths?
3. What should you change about yourself?
4. How are you doing relative to your peers?
5. What can you do that someone else can't?
6. Why should someone hire you?
7. How will you continue to be competitive?
8. How can you utilize technology to accelerate your goal attainment?

DAY-TO-DAY
9. What are your current top three tasks, and do they support your goals?
10. What sacrifices do you make on a daily basis towards the achievement of your goals?
11. What is an ideal day for you?

LEADERSHIP
12. What is your management style?
13. What are you doing to become a better listener?
14. What are doing to improve your communication skills?
15. What can do to become a more effective leader?
16. Do you feel that you have top managerial potential?
17. What do you look for when you hire people?
18. Have you ever had to fire people? What were the reasons, and how did you handle the situation?
19. What do you think is the most difficult thing about being a manager or executive?
20. What types of people do you work best with?

INDUSTRY
21. What important trends do you see in your industry as they relate to your strengths?

MONEY
22. How do you make money?
23. Are you living within your means?
24. How much do you want to get paid?
25. Why aren't you earning more at your age?

ORGANZATION
26. What is the ideal organizational culture for you?
27. What does the ideal organization look like that best aligns with your interests, values, experiences, and skills?
28. Are your job responsibilities aligned with your expectations?
29. When will you be making a decision to make a change in your current situation?
30. What was the most attractive position you have held to date? What was least attractive about it?
31. What’s the ideal position?
32. How long does it take you to make a meaningful contribution to an organization?
33. In your current (last) position, what features do (did) you like the most? The least?
34. What do you think of you as a boss?

GROWTH
35. How do you insure bad news gets delivered to you?
36. How do you evaluate yourself?
37. How do you benefit your organization?
38. Are there opportunities for growth and advancement in your current situation?
39. Are you seeking opportunities for professional training or further education?
40. What have you learned about yourself in the last year?
41. How successful have you been so far?
42. What are your long-range goals?

RISK
43. How do you feel about financial risk in pursuit of your goals?
44. Why did you leave your last job?
45. What type of opportunities do you foresee in the next few years? Why?

FUTURE
46. Why did you choose your line of work?
47. What could really hurt you in the next few years?
48. How are you going to grow?
49. Do you love what you do – is it your passion and your life’s work?
50. What will be your legacy?

Leadership Survey

2007-02-10T18:21:00.001-07:00

1. Please rank the item listed below according to your greatest needs:

Listed below is how the respondents ranked the categories...

1. Develop leaders that drive high performance teams
2. Drive revenue growth
3. Achieve strategic alignment across the organization
4. Create culture that challenges status quo
5. Penetrate new markets

2. Where is your greatest expertise?

Listed below are the responses...

Sales – 27.1%
Executive/Generalist – 25.4%
Other – 18.6%
IT – 10.2%
Marketing – 8.5%
Operations – 5.1%
Finance – 3.4%
HR – 1.7%

3. Why are some leaders ineffective?

1. Lack personality/style/leadership capacity plus training
2. Don't communicate with their employees - where is the company going and how the employees will be compensated on achieving the goal.
3. Lack integrity take a "ready, fire, aim" approach when under pressure do not exhibit a servant leadership style that attracts and engages team
4. They don't understand differences between leadership & management. They are very efficient mgrs, but much less effective at leadership. They don't challenge the teams they lead nor the conventional wisdom of their bosses.
5. Lack vision and insight into cause and effect of action/decisions
6. Lack of passion. Effective leaders have an enthusiasm for their work which is contagious. They inspire others around them. Their excitement spreads throughout the team. Leaders that do not display that true passion don't inspire others and tend to fail as leaders.
7. Lack of skill (especially strategy, people development/leadership)
8. Many are not visionaries and react to situations they had not anticipated because of this shortsightedness.
9. They might be good technically, but are not good at communicating and managing people
10. Don't reward those who produce; don’t treat others the way they want to be treated; not trustworthy; don’t surround themselves with outstanding people; only concerned about their next promotion.
11. Lack of support from the top, lack of clear compelling vision, lack of support for their teams
12. Not in touch with their employees intrinsic values No integrity More interested in achieving success for themselves than taking care of their employees Ineffective listeners and/or communicators Do not know how to delegate
13. They can't understand the customer and their needs and how the company's employees and product/service can best support/satisfy that need.
1. Unresponsive to organizational needs expressed. 2. Interference with subordinate responsibility. Do not empower/trust staff. 3. Challenges managing up the chain of the organization
14. They are not trusted by their people. They don't get the job done. If someone comes to them with an issue, the issue should be dealt with (for the better or the worse)...the employee should not have to chase the leader to get answers they need to move on.
1) Won't make hard tradeoff decisions. 2) Analysis paralysis: risk adverse and want total reassurance of result prior to commitment 3) Encumbered by staff management 4) Lack of role clarity and authority within the organization leads to duplication of effort, inefficiency, and infield fighting.
15. Poor Interpersonal skills; Lack of training; Lack of experience; Self-Focused rather than team focused; Disorganized
16. They don't make decisions and won't hold people accountable. They spend too much time managing up and not developing people.
17. They do not galvanize their organization. The people they are leading lack clear, consistent direction.
18. Focused too much on themselves and how they are perceived. Don't know how to effectively manage others. Can't figure out what motivates people that work for them--lack of awareness of other. Not good at communicating
19. Unable to make a decision. Unable to motivate people working for them.
20. Failure to focus and prioritize Failure to align incentives of key players Failure to listen (to customers, employees and other key stakeholders)
21. Inflexible - unable or unwilling to adapt as the situation around them changes. It is easy to be a good leader when things are going well.
22. Low emotional intelligence
- Because they simplify too much - Because they cannot listen - Because they can only repeat and not think for themselves - Because they are too shallow
23. Do not listen to the customer needs
24. Their priorities rarely include the right things. They become overwhelmed with producing quarterly results, not long-term value creation, investor’s pressure- to take care of the investors regardless of the business impact and personal goals- What's in it for me.
25. Too focused on day to day and don't invest in the long-term viability of their employees. Lose sight of what is important and what is just "noise".
26. A lack of honesty, integrity, candor, knowledge, and the willingness to take on the same challenges as their team members. Additionally, ineffective leaders are those focused on self-promotion and advancement and are therefore prone to micromanagement, and increasing involvement in the politics of impressing one's superiors rather than focusing on doing excellent work in light of what is right for their team.
27. Poor communication skills Dysfunctional teams
28. Don't have the trust of their people
29. Too focused on short term revenue or sales Too micromanaged from superiors Cannot focus on big picture Incentive compensation not aligned with objectives
30. Clear values and willingness to do what is right vs. what is popular.
31. Ego
32. Ability to clearly articulate a compelling vision for meeting market needs, and instituting operating mechanisms to deliver against that vision.
33. Varies by person. Biggest challenge is managing the paradox of "brutally honest about today" and "vision for tomorrow."
34. They do not provide motivation, realistic goals, or tactics. Fail to follow up on execution and are not honest and open in communicating. Micro-managers.
35. Cannot drive execution
36. You would be hard for me to call somebody who is ineffective a leader. The major reason I believe would be because the followers don't see where there personal needs can be met by going where the leader is taking them.
37. There are a number of reasons why a person can be an ineffective leader, tops from perspective would be; 1) inability to understand / communicate the mission and its importance, 2) inability to develop or inspire confidence & 3) inability to weather short-term setbacks to build a sustainable organization focused on long-term objectives.
38. They're not leading. They have the title but not the skill/knowledge.
39. inability to get team to understand and buy in to the overall vision and goal of the project; inability to help team overcome obstacles; inability to create high morale in team; too focused on themselves and personal success rather than success of others/team; lack of emotional intelligence
40. They do not understand the difference between commanding and leading. Even though they have the power to command they must operate differently or they will only get what they want rather than getting the best of an employee.
41. There are a variety of reasons why leaders are ineffective. In my opinion, these are the most common reasons: 1. Not having the respect of one's peers and/or team. 2. Not having decision-making authority. 3. Not effectively staving off forces that may be working against the leader's goals.
42. They don't have a true indication of the actual company culture and are misguided in their actions. Spending time on details rather than the strategy of the business.
43. Limited knowledge of the domain in which they are trying to make the decision...along with the fact that they often don't know that they don't know enough about the domain.
44. they operate on CYA
45. Short-term focus for immediate personal rewards.
46. They don't listen.
47. They do not validate the information being presented to them, thus they can make the wrong decisions. They do not understand project or portfolio management.
48. Great leaders have mastered a bottoms-up style of leadership. Ineffective leaders are top down only. They engender cooperation, not initiative.
49. Ineffective leaders frequently use Soviet-style command and control management.
50. They are not capable of asking the right questions and afraid to really listen to the hard answers. They are not able to build a team heading in the same direction.

4. What do you believe are the most pressing challenges for today's business leaders?

1. Having a strategic vision and plan. Setting a high moral standard of conduct.
2. Spending more time on their people issues.
3. Having a focused, strategic, balanced, long-term view of business opportunities an active application of emotional intelligence and situational leadership principles throughout the organization
4. Leading through change.
5. To do what you say and say what you mean
6. Engaging team members to think and act as business owners instead of being just an employee.
7. Prioritizing the plethora of projects, initiatives and issues.
8. To be responsive to changing market and competitive situations
9. Retaining top talent; Surrounding themselves with the right people; Creating the right culture; Strategic alignment according to business priorities; understanding the business
10. Change management (keeping folks motivated and focused in changing times).
11. Consistently being ethical when attempting to satisfy the demands of their shareholders Innovation…what is the company doing to ensure that will continue grow and be profitable? Customer Service; not developing long-term relationships with the customer. Retention; what is the company doing to ensure it maintains a skilled workforce?
12. 1. Effective communication with the customer and employee 2. Accepting criticism, growing from it. 3. Seeing the future and understanding how to drive the organization to excel at the changes and challenges that lie ahead.
13. 1. Corporate "America" in general is under such pressure to drive revenue and compete that they are creating company cultures that ignore and discount life balance equations for employees.
14. Aligning their own interests with the interests of the company....that includes shareholders. Short-term gain....long-term problem. Doing the right thing....being honest.
15. 1) unifying subordinates toward mission/goals 2) "Data overload", as opposed to identification of "right" information
16. Organizational effectiveness, recruiting and hiring, sales and sales management processes, turnover.
17. The need to grow revenue within short time spans with little thought to strategic development. There is no institutional patience for development any more.
18. Globalization, employee lethargy or entitlement, business integrity
19. Looking/seeing beyond the next 6-12 months.
20. Business ethics
21. Keeping their businesses fresh, relevant, creative and continually adding value to customers Dealing with new forms of competition (Internet, global)
22. Ability to rapidly transition or adapt to the changing market. Or to recognize where upcoming changes and to adjust accordingly.
23. Depends on the situation: startup, realignment, etc.
24. Bring ethics back in business. A business leader should also be a moral leader. Currently business is ONLY about making money - with business being a (if not THE) driving force in modern society, it's responsibility is broadening.
25. Cost pressures
26. To create a business that will stand the test of time is one of our toughest challenges. To create shareholder value that steadily increases. Attract new Visionaries and Talent that want to be a part of creating greatness and retaining them.
27. Reverse the cycle of self-serving managers who will destroy and organization's ability to compete just to get themselves ahead. Cutting down the politics in an organization to allow for true high achievers to create impact and results.
28. Growing revenue in a difficult economy and business environment; hiring the right people to do the job; expectations to deliver more with fewer resources.
29. Flexibility Strength Maintaining focus (of self and of team)
30. Maintaining motivation and understanding of widely varying generational needs/wants/strengths. Boomers are not risk takers and tend to not want to change, Gen X/Y get bored very easily. Boomers built things themselves, Gen X/Y have been given everything by their parents (Boomers).
31. The most important challenge facing today's leaders is how to make sure you are developing your future leaders while achieving sales and revenue goals.
32. Being true to their values as they are surrounded by long standing practices that support injustice. For example, how many business leaders speak out about the exponential difference between CEO pay and that of ordinary employees? Or consider how is it just that employees have two weeks’ vacation a year when the demands of caring for a family alone often consume the entire two weeks of vacation. We need to focus on treating employees the way we would want to be treated. When this happens in the business world, productivity will skyrocket and the corruption we see at the highest level of corporate America will plummet.
33. Inability to identify or lack of attention to issue of mentoring others to become effective leaders. Most companies prize self-starters and self-reliant people who require less management time. Most companies also seem to recognize the value of building team skills among their employees. However, those traits are far different from leadership skills. The effectiveness of an organization that has people who can "direct" or "manage" others is probably less than an organization that has "leaders" scattered throughout the company in those positions. An organizational leader who recognizes the value of leadership skills helps position his company for success.
34. The ability to build and sustain and effective leadership team.
35. Coping with very complex markets and very rapid pace of change.
36. Aligning executive compensation with desired company performance. Finding genuine ways to lead their team.
37. Ability to keep the team or company motivated and focused in the right direction. The right direction to me means having the correct vision: What is my market, now and in the future, how to dominate that market and continue to stay on top as that market, technology, and delivery of product and services changes?
38. Achieving team ownership, understanding, or a belief in the strategy. Many leaders are effective at gaining a “following”, but not a culture of workers that can help drive the new ideas needed to execute on the strategy.
39. Balancing task and relationship in their corporate culture. Creating an environment where people want to work versus have to work.
40. The pace of change, the development of leadership capabilities throughout the organization, fed partly by the difficulty to retain important staff members.
41. Challenging national and global economy - differentiation
42. How to continue to keep company/teams motivated, especially when faced with a constantly changing business environment
43. They do not listen to their employees. They do not listen to their customers. If they did both of these they would solve most of their problems.
44. 1. Some leaders put too much emphasis on their own advancement instead of the welfare of their employees and company. 2. Today's business leaders' actions and creativity are limited by human resource mandates.
45. Balancing the bottom line and increasing revenues with company culture and keeping employees challenged, happy and motivated.
46. Figuring out how to use information technology to its fullest capabilities while at the same time allowing employees and customers to feel that they still have an important role in making the decisions. In other words, if the IT was always right, we wouldn't need the people, but currently the IT is wrong often enough that only the really good people can recognize what to do in the face of wrong advice from the IT.
47. Don’t solve problems, create opportunities - Drucker
48. Achieving financial results required by large corporations while building/sustaining a long-term business opportunity. Making employees and customers a central focus; not just shareholders.
49. Understanding the market direction and aligning the organization to meet strategic goals.
50. For them to slow down and take note of what's going on in the world, in our culture, in their own offices.
51. Having to lead teams with thin experience and shallow teamwork skills.
52. Morale.
53. Getting intelligent, driven people to effectively work together.

5. Please rate the importance of the following issues:

Listed below is how the respondents ranked the categories...

1. Culture
2. Revenue & operational efficiencies
3. Leadership development
4. Teamwork
5. Product development & market penetration

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February 2007
Subject: 90 second survey for Jan Rutherford's research project

This email request is being sent to 90 people I respect as astute business professionals. This anonymous survey was developed for research I am conducting on leadership, and there are only 5 short questions.
Thank you for participating!
Jan Rutherford