Resolute Leadership

It’s Time to Stop!

John P. Schreitmueller — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:35:15 +0000

There comes a point when bad news just feeds on itself. Monsters are created when we allow bad news to compound. What’s the best call for leaders when this phenomenon strikes?

By John P. Schreitmueller with Pat Jones

Ladies and gentlemen it’s time to get a grip! 2008 has been a media Nantucket sleigh ride, between the presidential election, hurricanes, sky-high fuel prices and non-stop negative economic news. And, in case you haven’t noticed, the media is having a field day milking all the negativity for every last drop. No news sells better than bad news, and the divisive nature of the election cycle, war, gas lines and natural disasters, coupled with a major recession, is about as juicy as it gets. The spectacle of it all keeps anxious people glued to their TVs and radios… and in between the up-to-the-second latest on what’s gone wrong, advertisers gleefully get in their two-cents’ worth.

From a leadership point-of-view, it is time to assess what we’re doing. Basically, what we do from this point forward falls into two categories:

Actions we take that are part of the solution
Actions we take that only help to prolong the pain

Get my drift?

Every recessionary cycle has its share of gloom and doom. Remember, recessions are composed of ingredients that actually cause the downturn, and ingredients that make the downturn longer… and worse. In short, folks, recessionary cycles are as much psychological events as they are tangible events.

Earlier this year, we predicted that once the “R” word was floated out there, the media, politicians and markets would partner up in that exquisite dance towards destruction. And in that department, they have fulfilled our wildest dreams. Watching the CEOs of GM, Chrysler and Ford on TV begging Congress for money is a perfect example of self prophecy fulfilled: we asked for it, and we got it.

As business owners and leaders, we have a responsibility to ourselves, our families, our employees, our suppliers and the communities we serve to demonstrate we’re made of more than toast in the face of this kind of phenomenon. The first line of battle in bringing a recession to its inevitable end is the psychological leap – the deliberate intent – of saying NO MORE. The global economic system runs on confidence. Without confidence, nothing happens. And confidence is a matter of mindset. It is not tangible in that we can define it in so many Dollars, Pounds, Euros or Yen. Regaining confidence, then, requires an immediate shift in our perception.

Changing one’s perception in the thick of battle is never easy. When we allow fear to overtake our rational thought processes, our abilities to make decisions based on possibilities are diminished to zero. We become paralytic robots, feasting on anxiety and fear, while we wait for someone to bail us out. Well, when you’re the leader, gang, it’s folly to look for others to bail one out.

I’m reminded of a battle drill the Marine Corps taught us as young officer candidates. We were being trained to lead infantry rifle platoons in combat. In the mud and blazing heat of Quantico, Virginia in summertime, the drill instructors would place one obstacle after another in our path. Knowing we were faced with overwhelming disappointing conditions, they would holler at us, “What Now Lieutenant?” And it was up to us, as unit leaders, to come up with a plan.

Well, it’s up to us now. We cannot look to government or the incoming Obama Administration to solve all our problems. More government leads to more disaster. So here’s the game plan:

Bankers: Start lending! Stop this craziness. You have money to lend, and we know you do. You’ve learned how bad loans lead to bad business. Bank on those who come to you legitimately for your services. Charge them competitive rates that will bring them back. Build relationships now that will mean everything to you in the years to come.

Car Manufacturers: Build cars Americans want to buy. Make them of exceptionally high quality. Price them competitively. Give your dealer network every advantage in getting them off the lot and into the hands of customers eager to drive them.

Political Leaders: Stop lying! No one trusts you anymore, and if you think the 2008 election was a mess, wait until mid terms and 2012! The American people are sick of watching members of Congress parade around like they were part of some exclusive club, and impervious to the pain that exists outside the hallowed doors of the Capitol. So, you Senators and Congresspeople, you’re gonna get voted out of office if you don’t take at minimum the same measure of accountability the average American business owner must demonstrate to stay in business, and perform. Be forewarned!

Air Carriers: If you don’t learn how to put “service” back into your lexicon, folks are going to buy all those new fuel-efficient cars and simply drive. Air travel has become one of the most degrading, ineffective modes of transportation. Streamline your operations, do what you must. But if you don’t put the passenger back at the top of the list, you’re going out of business. And no one’s gonna cry for you.

Business Leaders: The days of misrepresentation and profit at the cost of ethical behavior are over! True, many of you are forced to let valuable people go during this sharp downturn. But don’t think that downsizing is any kind of solution. It is not. All downsizing represents, at the end of the day, is failure: yours, mine, and everyone’s. So, use the lessons of this downturn to re-invent your organization. Start now! Use them so next time, you won’t have to let anyone go. Instead, you’ll be gearing up to take advantage of the possibilities that do exist. And never forget, that as an authentic leader, your job is to derive a profit made not at the expense of anyone else, but to create profits for others as well as yourself.

Ugly as it may seem, the current economic downturn is proof positive of how we are all wed at the hip. We depend upon the success of organizations not even remotely similar to our own to make the system work. Money flows between us all in complex and unpredictable ways.

Next time you find yourself mesmerized before the television as the bad news is dished out faster than you can even process it, know enough about yourself as a leader to turn it off! Remember, you’re being sold on a line of thinking designed to keep you watching and buying in to the catastrophic thinking that is today’s news mode of operation. It sells, and keeps advertisers coming back. It’s just that simple! Just because they program it, it does not mean they are right. It only means that, if we buy into the non-stop prophesies of doom, our crisis in confidence will only be prolonged.

In conversation with your family, employees, members of your leadership team, friends, your suppliers and community members, have the wisdom to put on the brakes. Tell them that, while it appears we are surrounded by bad news, a recession, once in full swing, is driven by negative thinking. Bad news, and the fear bad news generates, perpetuates the cycle of anxiety. There is only one way to get off the cycle of negative craziness: do something different! Understand the powerful psychological aspects of a recessionary cycle. And understand that our most powerful weapon against more of the same is to restore confidence by shifting our perceptions.

Demonstrating courage in the face of disappointing conditions is the most potent confidence builder in existence. This is what leadership is all about. Tomorrow is another day. The sun will rise again. Will you contribute to the recession through fear, anxiety and retreat? Or will you have the courage to lead? Your choice.

Stop Lying to Us!

John P. Schreitmueller — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 17:17:19 +0000

The most critical issue facing Americans, as we get ready to vote on November 4th is not actually the economy. In reality, it’s what caused the economic crisis, and so many of the nation’s leadership ills…

With the presidential elections a mere fortnight away, it’s time for Americans to consider what’s really going on before punching that chad in the voting booth. Yes, it’s been an emotional and financial roller coaster over the last several weeks. Yes, we’re worried about jobs. Yes, gas prices are outrageous. Yes, we’re worried about what our friends, the Islamic nut case terrorists, might do next. And, yes, we’re worried about health care. Americans are worried, worried, worried!

More than that, Americans are angry. There is a palpable anger in the American psyche today this writer has not seen, even during the tumultuous Vietnam years so long ago.

The root cause of American anger is about dishonesty, misrepresentation, corruption and common knowledge leaders we have elected and leaders we have entrusted to run our businesses who have, in large part, failed us in ways so offensive it is difficult to describe.

Take a look at Congress. Our negative expectations of Congressional leadership are typically fulfilled as the partisans point fingers, waste our time, and let their constituents suffer… all so they can win re-election, or prove the opposition will solve all the world’s problems if only voters will put their candidates into office. So they can have more power themselves.

Take a look at the landscape of business leadership. Not much to applaud there, either. While it will take a decade or more to fully comprehend what took place in the board rooms of Fannie May, Freddie Mac, AIG and so many of the financial organizations upon which Americans depended for honest, quality products and services, it is sorely obvious the CEOs and senior leadership of those organizations operated without a care about anything but the proverbial bottom line. And, even after leaving the ashes of what remained of their companies, those sordid few enjoy the multi-million dollar parachute packages their boards so lavishly provided. All this while millions of Americans count the pennies that remain of their investment portfolios.

As Senator McCain and Senator Obama face off for the final two-week sprint to November 4th, let’s call upon them to belly up in ways we have failed to demand of presidential candidates in the past. At the end of the day, sports fans, the man we place in the White House is up to us. Believe it or not.

Don’t get fooled by the hype, polls or spin the media hands out. Don’t get fooled by the impression some savior will descend upon us and save us from the reality we’ve all helped to create. Don’t get fooled by the race innuendos and blame games.

At the end of the day, which candidate do you trust to deal with Americans honestly? Which candidate is more likely to ante up when he screws up? Which candidate is more about substance than show? And – dig deep in your hearts for this one – which candidate has the wisdom to truly lead, authentically?

It seems to me the answer is obvious. As you enter the voting booth on November 4th, do so as an American. Not as a black person, white person, Hispanic, Catholic, Jew, Protestant, liberal, conservative, man, woman, gay or pacifist. Take your foolish biases, misconceptions and all the garbage you’ve ingested from the media and flush it all down the drain. It’s doing you no good if you throw your vote away on a pipe dream.

All kidding aside, it’s 3am and the phone rings in the White House. Who do you want at the end of the line looking out for you?

Now, go vote like your life depended on it. It just might.

Executive Career Transition Consulting Practice

John P. Schreitmueller — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:20:00 +0000

Resolute Consulting Group LLC Announces Executive Career Transition Consulting Practice
Atlanta, Georgia

Resolute Consulting Group LLC, the Atlanta-based executive development firm, has announced the formation of its Executive Career Transition Consulting Practice, according to Tammy L. Brown, the organization’s Communications Director. “With organizations, executives and professionals facing potential transitional events in today’s challenging economy and work environments, the firm is meeting client needs with this vital service offering,” she added.

Interviewed at his office in Buckhead, John P. Schreitmueller, President and CEO of Resolute Consulting Group, stated, “While we continue to focus on our Leadership Development and Intervention practice areas, inclusion of high-end transition (outplacement) is a natural extension of our business. In fact, during multiple Leadership Development and Intervention engagements, we have found many have within them Transitional requirements. To us, because these two segments are so deeply intertwined, we are, as practitioners, obligated to provide comprehensive guidance and expertise across both areas.”

Since founding Resolute Consulting Group LLC in 2003, Mr. Schreitmueller and his Partner, Pat Jones, APRN, BC, have earned the praise of CEOs and leaders for their work in helping family owned businesses, public and privately held organizations, associations and non-profits dramatically improve their bottom line performance through integration of Resolute Leadership™, a unique, authenticity-based template for business owners, CEOs and organizational leaders. Mr. Schreitmueller is widely recognized as one of the career consulting industry’s top experts. Unlike many search and volume outplacement firms that attempt to augment core businesses with “consulting” services as economic conditions change, the Resolute Consulting Group business model utilizes complementary systems, strategies and resources between its Leadership Development, Intervention and Transition practice areas. The result is a dynamic, powerful consulting experience for the firm’s clients.

“With the Executive Career Transition Consulting Practice, Resolute Consulting Group offers a high-end, very high quality alternative to the traditional “outplacement” model. The old model is designed for non-exempt, entry-level people and middle managers. Senior executives and professionals never receive what they need to refocus their careers and work/lives using the old model, and it fails to help key players re-position themselves authentically,” said Ms. Jones, whose background helping senior executives and professionals understand behavioral aspects of complex work/life situations spans over 20 years. “We have taken the very best of decades of experience in career transition consulting that John Schreitmueller and I share, vastly innovated systems and approaches to accurately reflect the contemporary, multi-national business environment, and included levels of personalized expertise not afforded by any outplacement organization,” she continued. “I think the combination of our backgrounds bring this practice to a level that is noteworthy. Clearly strong demand, comprised of organizations and individual, private clients, exists for this service… and the market represented by those organizations and private clients recognizes use of generic, volume outplacement firms is a dead end and a risk where top individuals are involved in transitional events,” Ms. Jones said.

The Resolute Consulting Group Executive Career Transition Practice serves 2 client categories:

Organizational Clients

The Resolute Consulting Group Executive Career Transition Practice serves family owned businesses, public and private organizations, associations and non-profits that, as organizational clients, employ significantly compensated (about $250,000.00 to the millions in annual salary plus bonus compensation) and are facing economic restructuring, instances of dysfunctional reporting relationships, reorganizations, mergers, downsizings or other events that result in the displacement of these key individuals. Resolute Consulting Group is uniquely qualified to understand this complex niche, and its practice area encompasses an approach in which the transition event is handled with quiet discretion, and helps the sponsoring organization avoid negative press, litigation and damage to morale. The RCG model spans the totality of the transitional event, from planning through implementation. The duration of transitional engagements in this practice area typically begins at 12 months and extends to the point at which the transitioning executive or professional has either (1) accepted a suitable new employment situation that is authentically aligned with his or her work/life goals or (2) has successfully made an entrepreneurial re-deployment to the extent he or she has billed a minimum of 3 legitimate clients. In instances of entrepreneurial re-deployment, Resolute Consulting Group provides comprehensive guidance on business start-up operations and business development.

Private Clients
The Resolute Consulting Group Executive Career Transition Practice also serves senior executives, business owners, professionals and potentially high visibility individuals who, as private clients, will personally underwrite the expense of their transition consulting engagement, or have discretionary access to organizational funds for this purpose. Private clients may also be individuals who prefer to keep their potential transitions confidential, and may require sensitive exit strategy guidance even while they remain employed with their current organization. In today’s uncertain environments, there is great demand for this specialized type of guidance.

For further information on Resolute Consulting Group LLC, its Executive Career Transition Consulting Practice or Executive Leadership Development and Intervention Practice, visit the firm’s web site at: www.resoluteconsultinggroup.com or call 770-998-5281.

Take Ownership of Your Career

John P. Schreitmueller — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:17:30 +0000

Once again, US companies are shedding professionals by the thousands. Tired of worrying when the axe will fall on you? It’s time to…

Take Ownership of Your Career
By
John P. Schreitmueller

It happens every time. Just when you thought your job was safe and things were going well, something happens out there. If it’s not the terrorist nuts, it’s another energy shock. If it’s not another energy shock, it’s a tech or housing bubble going pop! Perhaps it’s Wall Street reacting negatively to earnings reports. Or, it may simply be a matter of the media – those pundits of doom – needing to sell some bad news because ratings are down. Whatever the cause, the result is always the same. Corporations, whether out of genuine need or simply because inauthentic Boards and CEOs think they’re more likely to hang on to their obscene compensation packages if they fire a bunch of people when times are tough, start the inevitable layoffs. And once the ball begins to roll, there’s little stopping it. The lives of millions are impacted. Entire communities suffer. Careers are literally ruined.

Aside from battling a destructive illness, little compares with job loss to cause one to feel totally out of control. Very good data exists linking job worries and job loss to all kinds of maladies, from common colds to aches and pains to far worse. As a professional, what can you do to escape this miserable cycle to nowhere?

Plenty. But be prepared to work, and face up to things you may not find immediately pleasant. The solution lies not with finding the “right” company, search man or woman to “take care of you” when danger threatens or socking away piles of cash to use when the chips are down. Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of these tactical actions. But, at the end of the day, they are merely band-aids. They treat symptoms and are not cures.

In today’s loyalty-less workplace, there is only one method for professionals to truly protect themselves: by taking ownership of their careers. What do we mean by “taking ownership” of your career?

Taking ownership of your career begins with a level of self-awareness you may not presently possess. This is where the hard work enters the picture, because the road to career security begins with knowing who you are authentically, and having a plan to pursue work along the lines of your own authenticity.

Career Ownership/Example One

A man who has worked extensively with a professional to develop an authentic career plan knows the aviation industry is the place for him. He loves airplanes and everything about them. He hangs out at airports, is working on his Private Pilot’s license and reads aviation publications like crazy. His work at a major FBO (Fixed Base Operator) is fulfilling, but he knows that with the economy down, his role as Director of Business Development at the FBO may be in jeopardy. What does he do?

He utilizes an extensive network he has built over the years that spans not only all the other FBOs, but the entire general aviation industry. An important part of his plan has included a regular series of informational interviews with key players in the industry. So, as things change in the market, he is already tuned in to dozens of organizations that represent potential alternative employers in the field he knows best and loves. If his job at the FBO goes south, he is poised to move into another – and very possibly better – role at another aviation company within a relatively brief period of time.

This guy has taken ownership of his career. He knows that looking to organizations to point him in the right direction is a losing cause. He knows that in choosing to be an employee, he is subject to job loss and that his best insurance policies are his personal career plan, linked with an awesome network.

Career Ownership/Example Two

A woman who is Executive Vice President – Finance at a software development company is clearly unhappy with her job. She can’t seem to put her finger on it, but the work, while paying exceptionally well, is drudgery. She works long hours, travels 50% of the time, and finds herself bringing home increasing amounts of work on weekends. Her last vacation was in 2005. However, she is scared to leave. Divorced two years ago, she must support her two teenaged boys, pay for a home that has clearly lost value in the housing downturn, and she lives in constant fear of job loss. Last month, the company began a “hiring freeze,” and the rumor mill has it that a round of layoffs is in the making.

Because of these factors, she forces herself to act interested on the job, attend meetings she feels have little value, and pretend excitement at things that for her are just not exciting. She pays a price for this. A year ago her back began to ache, and her doctor cannot seem to find a definitive reason for the pain. She has frequent headaches, often accompanied by nausea. Again, no definitive medical explanation has been offered. And, in confidence, she shared with the therapist she began seeing when her work/life equation became what she calls “out of control” that she is often sad for no apparent reason, cries often and feels “like a cloud is over (my) head and won’t seem to go away.” Her therapist diagnosed her with depression, and prescribed an antidepressant and a regimen of cognitive therapy.

When the woman described above was referred to us, she stated she could not bear the thought of another job search, and another meaningless, exhausting job. Obviously, we have work to do.

What are the differences between the two examples? Quite a bit, huh?

In the first example, we see a player who has invested a great deal of time, effort and money in the health of his career. He has taken ownership of his career the same way he took ownership of his health, and he treats them with great importance. He realizes no company on earth is going to look out for his well being, and that, as an “at will” employee, his job is only as good as the company’s needs for him today… and that the entire picture can change tomorrow.

His greatest weapons are his self-awareness and his network. He knows the aviation industry is where he belongs, and his plans stack the odds that he will be a powerful player in that space for many years.

The second example reads like a soap opera compared to the first. Here, we have a woman – obviously well educated and very capable – who senses she is “stuck” in a career situation that leads to nowhere. Even worse, her organization is about to begin layoffs… never a good omen, especially in this day and age. And even though the woman in this example is actually an officer of her company, most separation packages afforded by smaller companies like this one are inadequate to tide senior executives over for a search that, without deliberate plans to pursue a specific career course, can span more than a year.

What is the health of your career? Do you own your career, or do you lease command of it to other people, hoping they will make sure you are “safe?”

If the answer leans toward the latter, it is time to take action. We recommend the following:

Get Help Now!
Find a qualified, experienced professional career consultant to provide you with the tools of the trade. If you are at or near mid-life, with cash compensation (annual salary plus bonus) at or above about $150,000.00, this is no time to fool around trying to learn what to do. You wouldn’t put off going to the doctor if you developed chronic symptoms of some sort. Nor should you put off getting professional help when career danger threatens. In fact, a “wellness” approach, similar to the workouts and healthy food choices you make to protect your health, is the best route for success in today’s complex professional career paths.

A word of caution: the “coaching” field is highly unregulated. While there are a good number of highly qualified, experienced career coaches and consulting firms out there, the market is full of (mostly) well-meaning men and women who are no more qualified to give you guidance about your work/life than they are qualified as Olympic downhill racers. The best executive career consultants and interventionists are superbly qualified, have run businesses themselves, and have track records of serious interaction with top leaders across at least a decade. Be prepared to pay a healthy fee, and to work with the consultant for at least a year.

Your Network is Your Career Insurance Policy
There’s a lot more to “networking” than swapping business cards at the annual Salty Food Snacks International Convention in Las Vegas. Executive network development and maintenance is like organizational business development: it never ends, and it requires constant, careful follow-up. Sound like lots of work? You’re right; it’s like another full-time job. But the benefits can’t be beat. While the next guy is worried sick he’s going to get zapped when the sales department cleans house, you can be sitting there rather smug with the knowledge your next gig is only a few phone calls away. Or, because you have built a sizeable network and have a well-developed plan to start your own business, you might just decide the time is right to say “adios” to the corporate rat race.

Life is Too Short to Be Miserable
While we recommend against get-rich-quick schemes and knee-jerk reactions when it comes to you and your career, one thing is painfully evident: we are on this earth but for a brief moment. Yesterday is history and, whether it was a good day or not, it is gone forever. Tomorrow has not yet occurred, and all we can do is plan for it as best we can. What we have, in the final analysis, is today… the “now” of our lives. When we focus all of our efforts on looking back, in attempting to complete unfinished business in the past, or on the future, in ardent anticipation that “things will get better,” we are wasting what precious time we have. When it comes to your career, there is no better time than now to figure out who you are authentically, and adjusting your compass so the best of who you are and what you want manifests before you.

Just because the economy is in a downturn doesn’t mean you cannot expect to have a meaningful, rewarding career. To achieve this, you must take control of it and own it. To give ownership of your career to others is like turning your health over to someone else and saying, “Here, I trust you to run it for me.” With the right amount of work and investment, you can leave those who still leave what happens to them at work in the dust. The choice is yours.

Want to know more about how to take ownership of your career? Stay tuned for John P. Schreitmueller’s powerful new book, Recession Proof Your Career! A Guidebook for Professionals.

When the going gets tough, real leaders swim downstream….

John P. Schreitmueller — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 06:11:56 +0000

Leading Through Tough Times: Thoughts for Those who are “In Charge”
By John P. Schreitmueller and Pat Jones

In case you haven’t noticed, the U.S. is in a bit of an economic slump. We predicted last year that the media would succeed in scaring Americans into a recession, and, although the nation is not “officially” in a bona fide recession, the credit crunch, tanked home sales and high energy costs – as hyped night after night on the news – have created fear to the extent Americans believe the economy is in a tailspin.

Perhaps this is a function of politics. Remember, it’s also a presidential election year, and we have a funny feeling the loyal opposition will do anything to unseat the incumbents, including allowing the American people to suffer while they prove their point that everything is bad and getting worse. Just look at how rapidly Congress has responded to the energy situation! Why would elected officials purposely go on vacation while Americans bleed hard-earned dollars needlessly at the pump? So they can convince voters to vote for their guy in November, that’s why! Thanks to their inaction and despicable example of leadership, nothing has been done to get the U.S. drilling for its own oil, so we can finally tell OPEC, those masters of economic blackmail, “sayonara.”

But this isn’t anything new. These political games happen constantly. This time, it’s just more blatant. Hopefully, there are enough intelligent voters out there who realize they are, as Dick Morris might say, getting “fleeced.” Just because one party wants Americans to believe that voting their lot into office will change everything for the better doesn’t mean we have to buy off on it. This is just another form of chronic misrepresentation by our elected officials. The ones we voted into office. It’s lousy leadership.

While we disagree with the “tailspin” definition – the economy has remained amazingly resilient despite multiple negative factors – there is no doubt that things aren’t as rosy as they could be. And so, business owners, CEOs and leaders find themselves in that uncomfortable place of getting through a bit of bad weather.

The All–American “leadership” solution to economic downturns is to put a blowtorch to the backside of the man or woman in charge of sales. If we threaten the sales force with their jobs, the Old School Theory goes, they will work even harder and “sell us out of the downturn.” And if the sales people we have fail in that mission, we’ll simply fire them along with their leader, and hire new ones who are willing to “make it happen.”

The problem is, the Old School Theory doesn’t work. In fact, it’s a fairy tale.

It’s time we, as leaders, take ownership of what works and what just plain fails when the economic picture is less than stellar. What doesn’t work is force. What does work is allowing.

We know! This doesn’t sound like the tough guy approach we were force-fed in business school. It doesn’t fit the Wall Street definition of “profit-oriented leadership.” In fact, what we are suggesting is those models are hopelessly outdated at best, and bankrupt at worse.

Over the last year, Pat introduced me to the works of Esther and Jerry Hicks. I quite enjoyed reading them. Reflecting on their materials, I must say there are realistic applications of their theories to leadership, and what it takes to inspire today’s emergent workforce.

The best leadership lesson Esther and Jerry Hicks offer, in our opinion, is that of upstream/downstream methodologies. The typical business solution to a problem is to “make” or “force” something to take place. In other words, when conditions we do not want exist, we exert great energy and paddle upstream, against the current. We paddle really hard, get really sweaty, and spend lots of time (and money). We force and force and force. We threaten. We swear, curse and declare. After all, this is war! Or is it?

Very little in business is about life or death. Oh, it might feel that way. But it is not. War is about life or death. Business is about money. So, take a deep breath and think for a minute. Consider what you are really willing to expend in the search of the almighty buck.

In paddling upstream, we deplete our greatest resources at alarming rates. We lose our patience. We lose our focus. We lose money believing we’ll make more when we make it happen. Eventually, we lose our health. What’s left after that? For those who have never experienced it, this is called Burn Out.

We are not suggesting it’s not worth taking stands on ethics, the law or sound principles. We are suggesting a great deal of the problems with which we deal every day as leaders do not involve these core issues. But we fight nevertheless. Why? Usually because we were taught to, and because we think it will get us out of conditions we don’t want. We are taught to resist what is not wanted from childhood, are we not? Our very upbringings are so often based upon suffering as the route to success that we come to accept this as fact.

Let us suggest something different: one must not suffer to achieve greatly. Work hard? Probably. But suffer? No! There is no truth to the axiom that the more mightily one suffers during an economic downturn, the more likely one is to emerge financially intact. To the contrary, we suggest the more one concentrates on positive strategies that bring relief, the more one says “no” to worry and suffering when times are difficult, the more likely one is to emerge not only financially intact, but physically and spiritually intact as well!

In reality, the more we resist what is not wanted, the less likely we are to achieve what is wanted.

What if we stopped expending so much energy? What if we gave ourselves permission to stop suffering? What if we allowed the power of the current to take us downstream, into fresh territory? After all, we’ve already been upstream! We know what was there! It’s what’s already happened! Trying to get back to Where Things Were is a prescription for frustration and disaster, because nothing will ever be Where Things Were again. Instead, we have a choice. We can stay stuck trying to get back to What Was, and live in constant frustration and torment. Or, we can do something refreshing and productive. We can explore What Is Possible. And that’s an entirely different story.

As you think about the upcoming months and year, consider:

Instead of…

Spending countless hours worrying about things that may never happen
Micro managing your team to death
Allowing suspicion and paranoia to creep into the organization
Expecting the sales team to perform miracles and shield you from market realities
Laying off valuable people because it’s the “in” thing to do when there’s a recession

You can do this…

Invest serious time, effort and money in your own self-awareness, and ask your top leaders to do the same. This kicks needless worry in the butt every time. The more you know about how you behave under pressure, the better you’ll perform.
Listen to your team’s ideas that may be out-of-the-box. What options do these create? What other streams of revenue are available to you?
Build trust through your actions. Tell the truth. Avoid corporate speak. Through vulnerability comes true strength.
Demonstrate to your sales team their value. Incentivize them. Deal with them as business partners and be sure they have all the tools they need to pull off stretch performances in tough markets.
Lay off only as the absolute, last resort. Help the team adopt “owner” mentalities. Discourage “victim” thinking.

The problems we are experiencing are real, but they are temporary. Chances are very good that by this time next year, the economy will be on an upswing. We’ll have an energy policy that is real. The housing market will begin a robust recovery. Credit markets will ease. And, for better or worse, we’ll have a new occupant in the White House.

As you begin your workday tomorrow, keep this in mind: are you paddling upstream, trying to make what isn’t into what is? Are you fighting with all your might to recreate conditions that are already part of history? Or are you taking the bolder road, the one you have yet to travel? What is around the bend downstream? It may just be, as Sir Winston Churchill said, “broad sunlit uplands.”

Stop Controlling and Start Leading!

John P. Schreitmueller — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:12:22 +0000

Leadership’s most powerful tool involves a fundamental mind shift….

To set the stage for today’s discussion, let’s review a list of comments we hear from clients on a regular basis:

“What’s it going to take to get him to do what we want him to do?”
“When will she start making the calls we want her to make?”
“Why won’t he behave the right way?”
“How many times do we have to remind employees to observe the rules?”
“We’ve tried every way possible to create incentives that cause employees to do X, but they keep doing Y.”

The list goes on, but the theme remains the same. What we’re dealing with here is perhaps the oldest perception of what leadership is all about: Getting People to Behave the Way We Want Them to Behave.

Come to think about it, it seems so much of leadership is really about Controlling People.
Or is it?

So much of the human experience is about rules, regulations, laws and procedures. At the end of the day, most of these rules exist to (A) cause people to do certain things, because some kind of reward or recognition may be involved for observing them, or (B) cause people, out of fear of some sort of punishment, to not do certain things.

Now, a great deal of the rules and regulations under which we live exist to protect, or at least supposedly protect, our safety and fundamental rights. The Constitution of the United States is an example. I’m for that. We live in a nation of laws, the majority of which exist for legitimate reasons.

But then there are different levels of rules and regulations that have nothing to do with safety or fundamental rights. This is where things become claustrophobic, because we are literally buried in rules, regulations, policies, procedures and “advice.” When you think about it, most of these exist to cause people to behave in certain ways, under certain conditions. The Workplace is a fine example of such.

Think about all the rules, regulations, policies, procedures and cultural criteria that dictate how we are – or how we are not – supposed to behave while “at work.” There are dress code rules. Parking lot rules. Lunch policies. Vacation policies. Compensation rules. “Diversity” rules. Agendas for meetings. You name it. If there’s an organization, there are rules.

We’re not suggesting it’s time to do away with all the rules (although a great many of them, when one looks close enough, are ripe for flushing). Instead, the thrust of this discussion is aimed at the age-old penchant to lead by control. You know what I mean, because you’ve seen it. You’ve done it. We all have. But now, it’s time to re-examine how we lead on a very fundamental level.

Ours are cynical times. It seems people in positions of authority are lying to us every day. In so many instances, we ask people to behave in certain ways and then we set terrible examples by doing precisely the opposite of what is expected of those in our charges.

In Corporate America today, as in the workplaces of most industrialized countries, talent is less likely to simply follow the leader, as in the Good Old Days of Trust and Loyalty. Today, leadership is suspect at every turn, and leadership has contributed greatly to this atmosphere of distrust. The only way to begin to re-install trust is to let go of those leadership myths we took with us from business school into the workplace. Among those myths, the most poisonous is the one that tells us: to get anything done, one must control people and events.

Many of us – I among them – honestly believed that pile of bureaucratic crap as I embarked on my business career after serving in the Marine Corps many, many years ago (the Marines did a much better job of demonstrating how real leadership operated than anything I learned in business school or have seen in business). I would have argued to the death that the worst thing a leader could do was to “allow” employees to simply go with their flow; move towards what was authentic for them and produce in ways that enabled legacies they wished to leave.

The error of control-based leadership centers upon one word utilized in the paragraph above: “allow.” When we march into the office honestly feeling we have the power to allow or disallow human behavior, we have truly flipped out.

Think of it in terms of relationships. Marriages fall apart over the same issue. Ultimately, we do not have the power in a marriage or life partnership arrangement to tell our significant other what they can and cannot do. It is not ours to “allow” them to do anything. Once we fall into the trap of playing traffic cop to our spouse or life partner, it is only a matter of time before deep resentment enters the equation and, before you know it, the relationship is damaged beyond repair. Most domestic disputes are not really about money, taking out the trash or who is tasked with doing the wash. Those are just facades for something more serious. The disputes are, in reality, about power… and the struggle that exists between two people who attempt to control one another.

In a life partnership, the core ingredient that must exist every day is the choice each player makes to be in a relationship in the first place. When the two are authentically matched; when they feel the sacrifices or compromises they make on behalf of the relationship are investments well made, the relationship typically has a bright future, and extraordinary strength.

What’s different about a work situation? It’s still about a relationship, isn’t it? When an employee arrives at work each day, ideally he or she does so because a choice has been made that weighs the benefits of showing up against the possibilities of not showing up. When we arrive at work because, ultimately, the industry, business or function to which we contribute holds great meaning, lots of the silly rules, long hours and compensation disagreements are diminished. But when we arrive at work only to face another day of drudgery, abuse by inauthentic bosses and no escrow of meaning, it becomes hopeless. We feel we are being controlled. And, for the healthy, it becomes obvious it’s time to eject.

The point is this: the contemporary workplace is messed up enough. Top talent will simply not tolerate leadership by control. For organizations to attract and retain the players they must have to compete in a brutally competitive world marketplace, it’s time for the control freak bosses to be replaced by authentic leaders; leaders who know enough to hire those who demonstrate a high level of authentic alignment with the roles they are being asked to fill. And it’s time for every job seeker to take ownership of whom he or she is authentically, before marching into the interview and saying “yes” to anything they ask because they want the job and the money that goes along with it.

Yes, we are going through one of those economic cycles when the employment game is more difficult than usual. But it is imperative to remain authentically connected to goals, values and legacies worth leaving. For every leader out there, if you think this is the time to get “tough” and start controlling people because the numbers are down, think again. Even if playing the control game gets you a quarter or two of relief in front of the Big Boss or the Board, you’re making a work/life mistake that is destined to bite you in the rear end.

And for every employee and prospective employee out there, if you think prostituting yourself for a job that is not authentically aligned to your goals and legacy preferences is the only option available, you must also think again. You’re setting yourself up to be controlled, or to be forced into trying to control others. In the long run, it won’t work. It will harm you emotionally, physically and financially. And it will harm the organization with which you are not authentically aligned.

When you find yourself in a work/life situation where you feel little or no need to control others and the events that are taking place, sit back for a moment. Turn off the stupid computer. Ignore the phone. Bask in what you’ve achieved. For you are in the right place.