The Three Types of Team Commitment By Kevin Eikenberry

Larry, Michelle and George had been friends a long time. They met in college, and though they each went to work in different organizations, they committed to getting together once a year to discuss their careers, opportunities and challenges. Over the years they had each risen to senior leadership roles within their organizations. At their most recent annual retreat the topic of team commitment came up.

As it turned out, they were as puzzled after their conversation as they had been before they began. Why? Because they all believed that team commitment was important, and they all felt they had it, and yet the performance of their teams weren’t as strong as they hoped for or felt was possible.

Listen in to part of their conversation...

Larry knew something wasn`t connecting for his team in terms of productivity, but wasn`t sure just what. "If anything, we have great team commitment. People understand the organizational goals and have truly bought into that direction. It`s clear from their words and actions that they are committed to our organizational goals. And yet, something is still missing. I`m not sure what it is."

Michelle said, "We’re missing something in the productivity area as well, but my team is committed too. They are staunchly proud of the team - in fact they wave the team banner regularly - I`m surprised they haven`t had t-shirts made! They believe in the team`s role, they know that what they do is important, and like I said, man, are they proud!"

George concluded the comments of the trio. "My team is tremendously committed to each other. They are supportive, give each other great feedback and are always looking out for each other - more so than any other team I`ve ever seen. With all this commitment I`m baffled why they aren`t more successful!"

The conversation continued along a similar vein, with no real conclusions, until the next morning at breakfast.

The Morning Aha

At breakfast, Michelle said, "I was thinking about our team commitment conversation last night, and I woke up this morning with an idea! I think we do all have committed teams - but they aren`t committed to the same things. I think what we really need is a combination of the three types of commitments each of our teams have! Look at it this way..."

Michelle then drew three concurrent circles. In the inner circle she wrote "Commitment to Each Other." In the middle circle`s area she wrote "Commitment to the Team." And in the outer circle she wrote "Commitment to the Organization."

With this picture the group discussed the idea at great length and how to build the two types of commitment their teams didn`t have. They also decided to talk in a couple of months about their progress.

The Three Circles

Commitment is critically important to team success. Of course there are other factors for success (like relationships, clear goals and more), but commitment is one that often is overlooked. More specifically, teams need three forms of commitment to be most successful:

1. Commitment to each other and each other`s success. Teams that are comprised of individuals that actively support, believe in and care about the success of each other will be more successful. This type of commitment promotes the comfortable shifting of duties and responsibilities among team members as necessary and allows teams to have less stress and higher productivity.

2. Commitment to their team and the team`s success. Team pride and commitment is important to ultimate success. The commitment that arises from a team that understands their role and relishes achieving it is hard to undervalue. Teams with this type of commitment will overcome long odds due to their strength and unity and willingness to band together to get through a tough situation. Why? Because they see the effort as worth it for the good of the team.

3. Commitment to the organization and organizational goals. When teams see their work as supporting valuable and important organizational pursuits, this type of commitment is strengthened. This can`t be built without a clear understanding of company direction and goals, but with those in place this commitment can grow. Like the internal team commitment, this manifests in organizational pride and a clear sense of obligation to the greater good.

Thinking about each of these separately as a team leader or a team member will help you determine where gaps might be. Hopefully your team has high marks in each area. If not, this list gives you a place to start in building higher levels of commitment in the areas that might be lacking.

Potential Pointer: The important team commitments include commitment to the organization, the team and each other. The stronger and more balanced these commitments are, the more successful and productive any team will be.
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Kevin Eikenberry is a leadership expert and the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, a learning consulting company that helps Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, consulting and speaking services. You can contact him to learn more about how he can help you or your organization improve your skills and results.

Sponsor: Dr. John C. Maxwell's Learning The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership DVD Training Curriculum - This powerful training resource is designed to meet your leadership training needs! You and your team will get clear insight into timeless leadership principles and learn a process for continual growth in the life of your organization. Order your copy of this powerful leadership training program.

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A Leader Has High Ethics By Sheila Murray Bethel, PhD.

A young executive recently said to me, "How can I worry about ethics when our company is involved in a hostile takeover and we're fighting for our very existence?"

My answer was, "You don't have to put ethics on the shelf while doing corporate battle. Without ethics, even if you win you lose."

Every time we say or do something unethical we chip away at the foundations of our moral character and the reputation of our organization. If we're going to make a difference we must set examples of high ethics for others to follow.

I'm sure that you agree that the prime purpose of businesses is to make profit. But when profits become the only measure of success, we've lost sight of our shared values. When unethical business practices create unfair situations that go beyond a healthy competitive environment we are in deep trouble.

In a competitive market, doing business often involves beating out the other guy, getting the best of the deal, turning one million into five million. In this adversarial climate clear definitions of ethics can be difficult. How do you know when an action is a brilliant tactic or unscrupulous double-dealing? One way is to ask yourself if this action might harm an individual or business.

No one ever said that being ethical is easy. We live in a world with more and more ethical gray areas. Circumstances pull at us every day urging us to take the easy way out, to twist something just a little, or to close our eyes for just a second. Acts of omission can be just as unethical as acts of commission. Saying and doing nothing can be just as unethical as the committed act. The distinction between what is legal and what is unethical has become blurred.

Human Values - Business problems are ultimately human problems and so, human values must be applied to their solutions. These human values and solutions come from you and me. The good news is that the profit motive and social responsibility can coexist and prosper when we operate with high ethical standards and compassion. The stronger our ethical behavior, the better leaders we become. Harry J. Gray, former Chairman of United Technologies said, "How we perform as individuals determines how we perform as a nation."

Situational Ethics - Each of us makes daily decisions about our ethical behavior in various situations; thus we live with situational ethics. Since we are not perfect, we rarely operate consistently at the highest ethical level. Instead, the best we can do is to try to develop the wisdom and judgment to get as close to perfection as possible. For example, absolute honesty means never lie. That sounds like a good idea. But all of us have told "white lies" to keep from hurting someone's feelings.

Remember the last time a friend ask if you liked his or her new clothing, If you didn't, there was little point in saying so. If you found a neutral comment that was appropriate but that did not tell the absolute truth, are you unethical? Most of us would answer "no" So we use our experience (wisdom and judgment) and our conscience (moral character and integrity) to tell us how far we stray from absolute honesty.

Situational ethics or not, if something is ethically or morally repugnant on a personal scale, it is equally repugnant in our jobs and professions. In both areas, our personal lives and our business lives, the leader sets the standards, tries to live by them, and communicates the same expectation to others.

Shared Values - In the United States our pledge of allegiance says, "with Liberty and justice for all." If our nation is to remain great we must reestablish what our forefathers created for us: E. pluribus Unum, one composed of many. In the new decade just ahead we need to work together for our common interests, hopes and values, more than ever before We must examine our personal standard of conduct -- our ethics, and have the courage to turn the spot light on our actions, habits and examples.

Our differences are part of our great strength. We are a melting pot of peoples, religions and ideas. Out of this wonderfully diverse mixture has come our shared values system of ethical values. You make a difference as a leader when you set an example of high ethics.
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Sheila Murray Bethel, Ph.D. is author of the bestselling book, Making A Difference, 12 Qualities That Make You A Leader, host of the Public Television series Making a Difference, and recipient of the CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame award. She can be reached at 800-548-8001, e-mail: Sheila@BethelInstitute.com, or visit at her web site: www.BethelInstitute.com.

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Vision: Help Your Organization See It by William Blades

Many people regard the oak tree as one of the strongest. Actually, the oak tree began as a little nut that would not go away.

As business people, we need to take a lesson from the oak tree and be a little "nuts" ourselves in order to grow. Being "nuts" means that we must be willing "to go out there" once in a while. Why? Because very few organizational leaders have the vision to do so, which causes their teams to become boring and stale. Such a lack of vision is what ruins many companies.

Instilling vision in your group starts with the mind. After all, if you don't use it, you lose it. Stretch the way your people think and their minds will not go back to their original dimensions. If you don't stretch it, you'll wind up with premature dementia and the "death" of many managers and salespeople.

Consider the following vision questions:

What new value-added service will you add that no one else in your industry dispenses?

What personal services are your salespeople delivering, in a customized manner, to each major client?

As the CEO or sales chief, are you too caught up in the day-to-day routine of mundane administration, or are you leading a group of professional change agents?

Do you teach and then expect enhanced creativity from every manager and salesperson?

Are you flooded with resumes from top sales professionals because of your reputation for creativity, leadership, and fun?

Do your employees and prospective employees fully understand your vision?

There is only one correct answer for each of the questions above, and "I don't know" is not an answer. In general, only one to two sales groups out of every hundred truly have a belief in greatness. They can clearly answer the six questions above. The other 98 - 99 organizations only have a casual interest in greatness. Their thoughts and actions simply do not overlap.

All business leaders must take time to think - even daydream. If not, you may not see the opportunities that are too good to resist. Why daydream? Because what you see will be determined by what your are seeking. Daydream what your management / sales groups and revenues will look like in one, two, and three years. You won't hit the big picture if it is not clearly in sight.

As you set forth with your vision, consider how you can improve some critical areas, including:

The CEO - All company CEOs must be strong-willed. One person with a belief in greatness equals 99 who only have an interest in it.

In order to see the vision through, the CEO's initial mission is to obtain the right people and remove / reassign the wrong people. So, it's not a matter of what the CEO is going to do; it's a matter of who the CEO is going to get to do it. After all, a great vision without great people is irrelevant.

The CEO can delegate and empower the right people the absolutes they must accomplish. This removes the big list of "maybes" that are uttered daily in many businesses. CEOs must effectively communicate their vision throughout the organization and expect (and demand) buy-in. When the CEO's expectations are high, he or she builds trust and respect. As a result, the people follow the CEO's lead.

The V.P. Team - The CEO must have the best group of V.P.s to see the vision through. If any individual in this group does not have the respect and trust of his or her people, the CEO must act. Why? You can't be the best at what you do without great V.P.s. And you will never have the best sales team without a great V.P. of Sales. The CEO must have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of the company's current reality and know how to change that reality for the better.

At times, the CEO may need the assistance of an outside coach to facilitate a V.P.'s understanding of what he/she must do better. Often, people simply don't know what they don't know yet. That is not a crime, because they usually got the promotion without the prior education of how to be a great V.P.

Instead, they got a desk with the usual instructions to "go get after it." Without the necessary training investment to provide them with needed knowledge, your V.P.s will never accomplish physical speed or the ability to execute faster than your competition. Eliminate the gap that exists between "what" and "how."

You need leaders - not managers - in the V.P. role. Many V.P.s have ingrained habits that are unhealthy to the team and to your results. Are your V.P.s scoring a 10 with vision, discipline, communication, greatness, and results? The true enemy is always the ordinary. Attack the enemy.

Culture - Most firms have a culture (of whatever) and some have discipline, but very few have a culture of discipline.

Discipline means you develop a list of things you will stop doing (e.g.: being the low-ball vendor) before you develop a list of things to do. Hiring and educating well-disciplined people who do not have to be managed frees you to stay focused on the big picture.

You need people who will go to extreme measures to get things done right and fast. You need people who will pay attention to their part of the business. And, you need people who have a passion for self-improvement. It's that simple - and that challenging. Hard work has a future pay off, while laziness pays off now.

Ask yourself: For your vision to become a reality, does your group look like it should? What will it look like in two years? In three years?

Don't be lazy in designing your future.

Self Improvement - Benchmark against the best in your industry and decide you will be better than the best. Then, invest in the training and education necessary to accomplish the task. The biggest obstacle for your sales improvements will be to stop your managers and salespeople from teaching and acting on Sales 101. That teaching mode is five decades old. It's time for Sales 501.

A study conducted by Proudfoot Consulting revealed the following:

Of 225 (85% of capacity) work days in the U.S., 137 were "productive work days" while 88 were "wasted work days."

Causes of lost productivity were:

37% - insufficient planning and control.

28% - inadequate management.

15% - poor working morale.

8% - IT-related problems.

8% - ineffective communication

4% - other.

The results show that leaders need to focus on proactive management, delegation, processes, achievements, and communication both internally and externally. "U.S. productivity levels will rise dramatically if steps are taken to improve the management and supervisory roles, ensuring that managers tackle problems before they occur, spend their time on "managerial" activity rather than administrative and manual tasks, and communicate effectively to employees." (Source: Consulting, February 2002)

As we have heard many times before, it starts at the top. We can only regain productivity when the top level of the organization becomes more effective. The fact is that the average sales person in North America loses 3½ hours daily due to a variety of issues. They might look busy, but are they productive? Working on the right things will help their new-found knowledge work more effectively. Do the right things and then teach your team to do the same.

Innovation and Creativity - Organizations fail when they do not manage effectively - and when they don't innovate. Fall in love with innovation, not just with products, but with the ways you think, act, and do. The last frontier, other than searching further into outer space, is the human brain.

So to be super successful, we must think until it hurts. And that's our challenge, because most people get in the habit of just doing and not thinking. With that posture comes same-o, same-o, and in many cases same-o energy and same-o results.

To ramp up sales, an organization needs to be famous for something - and then something else. Salespeople also need to be famous for something - and then something else. If not, you are in the proverbial box. Fortunately, you can teach creativity. That's a good thing, as studies prove that only one out of one hundred people are creative. Start hiring creative, even eccentric people. Then, challenge these people to help bring new-found sparks to complement your vision.

What is creativity? It's linking two seemingly unrelated things. It's seeing an empty, transparent flower vase in a potential client's lobby. Fill it with exotic fish and decorations. And it comes with a year's supply of fish food - with your private label on it, of course. (At least tape your business card to the food container.)

Expose your people to creative and inspirational people. Get them to read more business books and novels (and even poetry). Encourage them to enjoy art and music that can't be found at Joe's Bar & Fun Joint. In a recent Businessweek article written by Robert Barker, the recently retired CEO and Chairman of Honeywell International, Inc., Lawrence Bossidy, said, "You've got to promote people who want to be creative and innovate. Drones don't have good ideas." He further says that we should resist the tyranny of the drones.

Is creativity in your organization? Ask yourself: What did each member of my management team do last week that they had not done before? How about the salespeople?

The bottom line is that you must recruit, select, train, and motivate better than anyone else. This is one rule you cannot break, as your successors will come from this commitment. And remember to look for - and teach - creativity. Being boring is out, if it was ever in. Even accountants can be creative. They could add this note to past due notices: "We've done more for you than your own mother. We've carried you 10 months."

Know Your Business - Rule number one is to keep it simple. Make it challenging and fun internally, and valuable and fun externally. Don't stray from your vision or your values.

Work smarter, not cheaper. Improve sales and profits through innovation and creativity. It's called "delivering joy and value." What are you doing to own the marketplace and at greater margins than all or most of your competitors? If you are caught in price wars, the value your team is bringing is woefully weak at best.

Focus on value. Realize that this doesn't mean just shipping on time. You're supposed to do that. What is the value you bring that no one else does? While it may not be easy to figure out, it is doable 100% of the time. So if one of your salespeople says your 2x4 piece of lumber is "just a commodity item," hit him on the backside with it. Ask your salespeople what they have done for their clients to bring joy and value to the transaction.

Are your salespeople targeting the right clients? Are they (and you) building loyalty? Are they making the same "pitch" at other places? Great leadership and education will keep everyone focused on the right things and right clients.. with the right margins.

Find Your Vision Today - Finding your company's vision is a lot like an old water pump. You have to put a little water in it and then pump it. For a little while, nothing comes out. Then a little comes out.and then a lot.

You cannot look for one single defining moment or action, not one single innovation, not one lucky break. Finding and maintaining your vision is a process like the pump. What you put in will determine what comes out. Prime and pump it every day.

Much of your vision starts with surrounding yourself with people who have vision. The right people will help you with strategy and tactics so you can put the vision in place and see it through. Great vision from the CEO, without great people, is just another visionary thing.

Vision - The good news is that many competitors just don't see it.
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Bill Blades, CMC, CPS
William Blades, LLC
1240 Red Tail Way
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009
307-635-1989
www.WilliamBlades.com

Sponsor Message Dr. John C. Maxwell's Learning The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership DVD Training Curriculum - This powerful training resource is designed to meet your leadership training needs! You and your team will get clear insight into timeless leadership principles and learn a process for continual growth in the life of your organization. Order your copy of this powerful leadership training program here.


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Smashing Paradigms - An Exercise of Leadership By John Baldoni

The ability to look at the world as it is and envision something new and improved is a valued trait of leadership. An act of creation, however, as the literature of India tells us, is born of destruction.

Say the word "destruction" and you immediately think of blowing up bridges, knocking down buildings, or leveling factories-all physical actions. But sometimes the boldest form of destruction is one that calls for deconstructing existing paradigms, or mental models, that stifle progress. That form of destruction may be the most dramatic -- as well as renewing -- form of leadership.

Skeptics told Fred Smith his idea of an overnight delivery service would never fly. Experts scoffed at a college kid Michael Dell's plan to build a computer company that would sell direct to customers. Sophisticated analysts ignored Sam Walton as he built his Arkansas-based store into a national chain.

None of these entrepreneurs listened to the naysayers. Their personal leadership smashed an existing paradigm, the set of beliefs that framed the world as others saw it. Each of these business leaders replaced the shattered paradigm with another more dynamic and robust paradigm that embraced the needs of new and emerging groups of consumers.

Every entrepreneur has a bit of paradigm-smashing within herself. Entrepreneurs are those who look at the situation and say, "why not?" They seek new solutions to old problems, or new solutions to emerging issues. This mindset is equally true of transformational leaders. A transformational leader is one that envisions a tomorrow that is totally different from the present one. She persuades other to follow his vision, and in the process completely reinvents the organization.

When you run a business, or lead an organization, you learn very quickly that you need to experiment. Entrepreneurs and transformational leaders must be innovative, creative, flexible, adaptable, and yet, responsible.

Here are some ways to smash existing paradigms ...

* Re-frame the problem - Many companies have created multi-disciplinary teams as a means of doing business. Yet when serious problems occur, old behaviors often arise. Hand-shaking gives rise to finger-pointing as team members relate difficulties to functions. You hear things like: "That's a marketing problem… Or, that's the job of engineering." Henry Ford once said, "Don't find blame, find a remedy." And it's true.

The purpose of cooperative teams is to find solutions together. For example, a marketer might look at what is perceived to be a "logistics problem" and then adopting the perspective of the customer, come up with ideas to solve the problem. Equally so, an engineer, trained in root-cause analysis, might find a new approach to a "marketing" problem. The challenge is to bring different view points together to spark creative thinking.

* Look for ideas and solutions in unlikely places - The best solutions may require looking in places that are less than obvious. One manager of an apparel maker a practice of interviewing teens while they stood in line at rock concerts in San Francisco. By talking with the kids and getting to know their likes and dislikes in clothes, the manager was able to help the design department create clothes that would be more appealing to younger buyers.

Similarly, Nokia, the Finnish telecommunications company, sends its engineers to Southern California to get an appreciation of life in the trend-setting lane. By observing the way people use wireless communication devices currently, Nokia's engineers may be able to design new products that not only complement consumers' current lifestyles, but anticipate coming life changes and thereby position their company to be a next generation provider of leading-edge products.

New ideas abound. They are always in the air. The challenge is to put yourself into a place where you can breathe that "new air." When it fills your lungs, you may find yourself with a bold new vision of the future.

* Experiment - Success depends sometimes in serendipity, or being in the right place at the right time. 3-M's Post-It Notes occurred when Arthur Fry, a researcher working with adhesives accidentally got some "sticky stuff" on a piece of paper. Noticing how the adhesive allowed the paper to be stuck and removed several times, he pursued the idea further. It is for this reason, among others, that 3M actively encourages their research people to spend 15% of their time on developing their own projects. You never know where the next great idea will come from.

* Take risks - It's one thing to create a new product by happenstance, it's another to put it into production. That's where risk management comes into play. In the two examples of Hewlett-Packard and 3-M, both companies pride themselves on innovation and therefore are receptive to new ideas. These companies, I am certain, build a sense of risk into their business models. Try as we might to manage all of the variables, we know it's impossible. Sooner or later, a company must trust its instincts and invest in ideas that show promise, but are not yet proven.

* Do it again... and again! Our society lives on the cusp of rapid change. What works one year may not work the next. Therefore, leaders must be prepared to innovate on a regular basis. To do this, they must establish a culture of continuous innovation; in doing so, they enable their people to experiment as they create a new future.

These five steps demonstrate that a culture of innovation can be nurtured if we have the willingness to get beyond current thinking, or existing mental models.

While both entrepreneurial and transformational leaders can take a measure of satisfaction in smashing paradigms, they must create something worthwhile and positive to take its place. For example, Fred Smith dreamed of express delivery and fulfilled his dream by creating a hub-and-spoke system of air freight. Michael Dell imagined a better way of offering computers to customers, and in the process built a company to deliver custom-made machines direct to customers in rapid frames. Sam Walton envisioned a nationwide span of stores providing high-quality goods at low prices and made it happen with a network of rural-based hyper-markets.

The lesson for leadership is this: before you tear down walls, think about what will stand in their place. This lesson is particularly apt for transformational leaders. A leading example of this type of leadership is Jack Welch of General Electric. When he assumed the chairmanship in 1981, his mission was to establish leadership in every business category in which GE competed.

If this were not possible, GE divested itself of the business. His actions, which earned him the nickname "Neutron Jack," transformed a bloated Goliath into a competitively-lean enterprise that is number one or two in every one of its market. In the process, GE has become the most highly capitalized business in the world, worth in excess of $200 billion.

Not every paradigm needs smashing. Paradigms do serve a useful purpose; they frame our world in ways that affirm our values and our future. For example, the U.S. Constitution represents a paradigm of equality and justice for all. Anarchists may advocate smashing it, but most of our citizenry would opt for adherence, with an occasional improvement, such as the Amendments that abolished slavery, enfranchised women voters, and Prohibition. (The next time you hoist a pint, or sip a Chardonnay, murmur thanks to the paradigm-busters of the 1930s.)

Paradigm-smashing is a prerogative of leadership, but leaders must understand that de-struction demands con-struction. They must be reasonably certain their new paradigms will allow for a more viable, more improved, more just tomorrow. Good leaders understand this intuitively, which is why we look to them for guidance and direction.

(c) John Baldoni - All rights reserved
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John Baldoni is an internationally recognized leadership expert, executive coach, speaker and author of seven books on leadership. His newest book, Lead by Example: 50 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Results (Amacom) describes how leaders encourage others to follow their lead. John writes the "Leadership at Work" blog for Harvard Business Publishing and as well as his own leadership blog. John’s website, www.JohnBaldoni.com, contains coaching podcasts and videos, leadership articles, and information about his books and workshops.

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The Two Qualities of Top Leaders By Brian Tracy

There are two essential qualities of leadership. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric says that the "Reality Principle" is the most important of all. What this means is the practice of realism in all things.

Practice Intellectual Honesty ...
Realism is a form of intellectual honesty. The realist insists upon seeing the world as it really is, not as he wishes it were. This objectivity, this refusal to engage in self-delusion, is a mark of the true leader.

Don't Trust to Luck ...
Those who exhibit the quality of realism do not trust to luck, hope for miracles, pray for exceptions to basic business principles, expect rewards without working or hope that problems will go away by themselves. These all are examples of self-delusion, of living in a fantasyland.

See Things As They Are ...
The motivational leader insists on seeing things exactly as they are and encourages others to look at life the same way. As a motivational leader, you get the facts, whatever they are.

You deal with people honestly and tell them exactly what you perceive to be the truth. This doesn't mean that you will always be right, but you will always be expressing the truth in the best way you know how.

Take Responsibility ...
The second key quality of motivational leadership is responsibility. This is perhaps the hardest of all to develop. The acceptance of responsibility means that, as Harry Truman said, "The buck stops here."

Win By A Narrow Margin ...
The game of life is very competitive. Sometimes, great success and great failure are separated by a very small distance.

In watching the play-offs in basketball, baseball and football, we see that the winner can be decided by a single point, and that single point can rest on a single action, or inaction, on the part of a single team member at a critical part of the game.

Get the Winning Edge ...
Life is very much like competitive sports. Very small things that you do, or don't do, can either give you the edge that leads to victory or take away your edge at the critical moment.

This principle is especially true with regard to accepting responsibility for yourself and for everything that happens to you.

Refuse to Make Excuses ...
The opposite of accepting responsibility is making excuses, blaming others and becoming upset, angry and resentful toward people for what they have done to you or not done for you.

Any one of these three behaviors can trip you up and be enough to cost you the game: If you run into an obstacle or setback and you make excuses rather than accept responsibility, it's a five-yard penalty. It can cost you a first down. It can cost you a touchdown. It can make the difference between success and failure.

If, when you face a problem or setback, and you both make excuses and blame someone else, you get a 10-yard penalty. In a tightly contested game, where the teams are just about even, a 10-yard penalty can cost you the game.

If, instead of accepting responsibility when things go wrong, you make excuses, blame someone else and simultaneously become angry and resentful and blow up, you get a 15-yard penalty. This may cost you the championship and your career as well if it continues.

Lead Yourself, Be A Role Model ...
Personal leadership and motivational leadership are very much the same. To lead others, you must first lead yourself. To be an example or a role model for others, you must first become an excellent person yourself.

Action Exercises:

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, be completely honest and realistic with yourself and every difficult situation in your life. Resolve to face the truth, whatever it is. Don't wish, hope, pray, ignore or play games with yourself.

Second, accept complete responsibility, especially when things go wrong. Refuse to blame others or make excuses. You can tell the strength of your character when you are under pressure. Be calm, controlled and constructive at all times.

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Brian Tracy is one of the world's leading authorities on personal and business success. His fast-moving talks and seminars are loaded with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that you can apply immediately to get better results in every area. Visit the Brian Tracy web site.

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Leadership Lessons from AA By Joe Tye

Almost every recovering addict I've ever spoken with eventually uses the word "miracle." And many of these people have been led to their miracle through the principles of AA. That's actually a pretty good metaphor for the very best that organizational leadership has to offer: helping people achieve the miracle of personal transformation.

In this article I'll share several lessons from AA that are directly applicable to being a more effective leader. If you find this to be thought provoking, check out the book The Spirituality of Imperfection, for more on story-telling as a pathway to authenticity. (Authenticity is Core Action Value #1 and Leadership is Core Action Value #12 because the one begins a journey that culminates in the other.)

Fake it till you make it: I was once speaking with a movie producer who told me about the time a young wannabe actor approached the great Spencer Tracy and asked him for the ultimate secret of mastering the acting craft. He said Tracy didn't even look up from the script he was studying, just said "Don't get caught at it."

To be the best leader you are capable of being means to be growing and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, and this means to be continuously rehearsing for roles that are (by definition) uncomfortable. So, you fake it till you make it, because if you don't, you stagnate.

Change your behaviors: In AA, they say that one definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. By that definition, I know a lot of crazy people (you might be one of them).

For example, to always be complaining about how you never have enough money without taking action to earn more or spend less, or both, is crazy.

Lisa Bluder, head coach of The University of Iowa women's basketball team, closes her emails by saying that if you want to have what you've never had, you must be willing to do what you've never done. And thus do miraculous things come about.

Foster relationships based on mutuality: In AA, the relationship between the drunk and his or her sponsor is that of a mutually interdependent dyad, not of a supervisory paternalism. They both need each other - equally. In his Pulitzer Prize winning book Leadership, James MacGregor Burns wrote that "transforming leadership" is never a one- way street, but always a relationship in which both leader and followers are transformed. In other words, mutuality in action.

There's a lot more we can learn from AA, and we can be inspired by the courage and humility of those who transform the inner demons of addiction into guides for helping others grow (a journey Richard Tripp describes in his book Pleas e Underestimate Me). This is ultimately something all leaders must eventually do, each in their own way.
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Joe Tye is president of Paradox 21 Inc., which provides corporate training and culture change initiatives based on a proprietary curriculum of The Twelve Core Action Values of Personal Leadership Effectiveness. He is also the author of several books and audio programs on personal, career, and business success, and a popular motivational speaker. Visit www.JoeTye.com

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Making A Business Movie By Brian Tracy

Everything worthwhile is achieved by a variety of people coming together to perform a variety of jobs, all of which are coordinated and sequenced together to achieve a final result.

Today, this model of the virtual corporation or the virtual team is becoming the key to success in both individual and business life.

Assembling Your Team ...
A perfect example of the virtual project team would be the video crew that makes my video training programs. This crew consists of about 10 people, most of whom know each other but all of whom work independently from each other.

Selection is the Key to Success ...
This is the way this type of team comes together. When I decide to create a training program, I negotiate an agreement for the finished product with a person who becomes the project's executive producer.

The executive producer knows where to find the key people to make up the team. And here is an important point: selection is 95 percent of success in management.

Look for Previous Experience ...
For you to select the right people, you must be clear about the key result areas and the standards of job performance.

Most people judge themselves on the basis of what they feel they are capable of doing in the future, but you must only judge people based on what they have actually accomplished in the past. The inability to choose people well for a team can lead to under-achievement and failure.

Know Who You Need ...
The executive producer of the film crew will then begin hiring the individual members of the video shooting team.

First, he or she will hire three cameramen, who come complete with state-of-the-art camera equipment that they either own or rent for this project.

Then there will be lighting and sound specialists. A combination carpenter and designer will be hired to concept and build the set for the video project. A floor director will be selected who will coordinate the activities of the cameramen, the people appearing in the video shoot, the sound person, the light person, and the designer.

Select the Bit Players Carefully ...
In addition to these people, there will be an editor and mixer who will sit in the video sound booth and mix the project as it is shot and edit it afterwards. Finally, there will be a make-up specialist who prepares each of the performers for the shoot.

Field Your Team ...
This makes for a total of 10 people, all specialists who are brought together to focus on the production of a single video project. The actual shoot itself can take anywhere from two hours to two weeks.

When it is over and everyone has done their jobs, the crew shakes hands and disperses in different directions, going on to join other crews for other video shoots under other circumstances.

Continually Revise Team Responsibilities ...
In corporations today, the continuous formation and dissolution of these "virtual teams" is becoming the norm for achieving goals.

People who specialize in their fields are brought together under a team leader to perform a function or do a job and then disperse to become members of other teams performing other functions.

It is into this constant formation and reformation of teams that you must integrate yourself so that you can maximize your capacity to make a significant contribution wherever you work.

These same principles apply to you and to bringing together several people to complete a project.

Action Exercises:

Now, here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, think through the project in terms of the specific jobs to be done and the specific skills that people will require to do those jobs. Select your team on this basis.

Second, take time to discuss and agree on the role and expected contribution from each person. Be absolutely clear with everyone about your final goal or desired result.
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Brian Tracy is one of the world's leading authorities on personal and business success. His fast-moving talks and seminars are loaded with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that you can apply immediately to get better results in every area. Visit the Brian Tracy web site.

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