C.S.Lewis

Not for show but for showing

not-for-show-but-for-showingWhat example are you showing by how you lead? Leadership is not to show others how good you are, it’s for showing others how good they can be.

Do you tell your team what to do, or sell them on where to go and let them figure out how to get there? Do you step out yourself or expect others to move first? Leading can be tricky business. How do you balance letting people make mistakes and grow, while you demonstrate the way to success? Both can be accomplished if your focus is on showing others how to succeed.

“Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and actions.”– Harold S. Geneen,

Here are three practical areas for showing others how good they can be:

No better way for showing the way than going the way.   Giving speeches, reading books, studying your industry. These are all very important steps in showing the way. Your team can learn what to do and what not to do from your tutelage. But there’s a difference between reading the owner’s manual of a car and getting behind the wheel and driving. Your actions demonstrate the proof that your words will lead to success. Get out there and do what you say others should do.

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”– Walt Disney

Stop doing something and start doing the right thing. Mistakes happen. Wrong choices are made. These are part of a successful career – if you rebound. Once again, your example here is priceless. Be willing to open up and share your missteps and how you overcome them in real time, not just the history but as they happen.

“We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road.” – C. S. Lewis

Don’t just look forward, look back to see if anyone is following. Ok, so you are out front demonstrating everything you are saying. You’re like the drum major in a marching band, leading the way forward. Have you ever noticed though, that everyone once and a while the drum major turns around the see that everyone is in step and marching in the right direction? In the same way, you need to check in with your team to make sure they understand your examples and are having success of their own.

“Thinking good thoughts is not enough, doing good deeds is not enough, seeing others follow your examples is enough.”– Douglas Horton

 

Manage through stability, lead through change

Change leadershipWhen nothing is changing, you manage. When change comes along, you lead. Here’s the punch line: Things are always changing.

“Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back everything is different…”– C.S. Lewis

Borders Booksellers overinvested in managing their store locations but underinvested in online capability and ended in bankruptcy.

PayPal saw the future and led the company from its beginnings in cryptography, then transmitting money via PDAs, and after a few more years became the successful online payment system we know today.

How do you lead through change?

Envision the future

When I travel in new cities I always use my GPS to drive. Not just for the obvious reason of not knowing where I am going, but also to plan ahead for the changes. The GPS lists the next few turns so I know which lane to switch to and how much time I have to get there.

I use this same method to prepare my team for the future. We all talk about our destination and the next few changes that are coming up so that we are always prepared for what’s next.

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” – John F. Kennedy

Engage those that are ready

Change only happens when people are ready for change to happen. Don’t give up if everyone is not ready for the change. Start with those that are ready and show the results of change, then others will follow.

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” George Bernard Shaw

Energize the process

The process of change is not one and done but a series of next steps. You need to build a process where the outcome is change. Don’t let change surprise you. Be a team whose core competency is change leadership. Have a plan that you execute every time.

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” ­– Winston Churchill

 

Preview of future coming attractions

future coming attractionsMy family enjoys the whole experience of seeing movies at the local theatre. We like to arrive early to take in the atmosphere of the posters for all the movies that are playing, get our popcorn and other snacks, and find our way to one of the seemingly endless doors that lead to the big screens. Once seated we wait in anticipation for the show to start.

For us, half of the show is the preview of future coming attractions, the other half is the feature presentation. We like to see the previews for two reasons that apply to successful leadership. First, it allows us to make our personal future plans when we know where the industry is going. Second, it give us a glimpse into what to expect in the present (the feature film) because the future previews are geared towards what is thought to be the expectations of the audience.

Here are four reasons that successful leaders provide a preview of future attractions:

Leaders know the future is inevitable, Successful leaders understand that the future is coming whether we want it to or not. C.S. Lewis said, “The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever they do, whoever they are.”

Tomorrow comes for the entire world. In fact for some it has already come. Peanuts comic strip creator Charles Schultz once joked, “Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today.   It is already tomorrow in Australia.”

Planning for the future doesn’t guarantee success, but it does give you a definite plan of action to follow which brings a much higher chance for success than not.

Leaders envision the future. Now, in the present, is the time to dream of your future. Create a vision of what your perfect world would be then make plans to reach it. Eleanor Roosevelt told us, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Some of the people thought to be the wisest were also the biggest dreamers. Albert Einstein, the physics genius once said, “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” And Winston Churchill, the former prime minister of England during WWII said, “The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.”

Leaders plan for the future. The only part of time that is already written is history. You are living today and tomorrow has yet to come. You have choices to make that will determine your future success.

“Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” – William Jennings Bryan.

Remember, the future will come whether you plan or not. You will play a part in the future that is created, so why not play a part in creating it?

“Control your own destiny or someone else will.” – Jack Welch

Leaders lead to the future. So the future is coming, you created a dream of what it can look like and you have plans to reach it. The final step is to take people to your dream. The best leaders don’t shout “GO”, they shout “FOLLOW.” Robert F. Kennedy taught us, “It is not enough to understand, or to see clearly. The future will be shaped in the arena of human activity, by those willing to commit their minds and their bodies to task.”

So if you want to lead your team to a successful future, do it now. As Pope John Paul II said, “The future starts today, not tomorrow.”

Leaders with humility succeed

newton standign on the shouldersLeaders with humility will succeed in their career.  Humility allows people to listen to, and learn from others who have been where the are going.  Humility doesn’t mean you doubt your ability, it means you respect the ability of others.

C.S. Lewis once said, “Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”

Here are three reasons why leaders with humility succeed:

Leaders with humility succeed  because they are open to learning from others.  Great leaders realize that there is very little they do well that they didn’t learn from someone else.  Learning from others is a strength of great leaders.  Will Rogers once said, “A man learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.”

Leaders with humility succeed because they gain knowledge and wisdom from every encounter.  Each person can learn and grow if they will determine to learn from the success of others. Bill Nye said, “Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.”

John Maxwell, the great leadership expert, uses a set of seven questions when he talks to successful leaders:

  1. What are the great lessons you have learned?
  2. How has failure shaped your life?
  3. What are your strengths?
  4. What is your passion?
  5. Who do you know that I should know?
  6. What have you read that I should read?
  7. What have you done that I should do?

Leaders with humility succeed because they surround themselves with people who know more than they do.  Great leaders know that they can’t know everything.  If you want to be the best, then hire the best in every area. Leaders with humility don’t need to be the smartest person in the room; in fact it is a requirement that they are not.

Malcolm Forbes, former publisher of Forbes said, “Never hire someone who knows less than you do about what he’s hired to do.”

Leo Iacocca, Chrysler’s former CEO said,  ”I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way.”

 

 

 

 

 

Successful leaders provide a preview of future attractions

it-looks-like-the-futures-really-bright-future-quoteMy family enjoys the whole experience of seeing movies at the local theatre. We like to arrive early to take in the atmosphere of the posters for all the movies that are playing, get our popcorn and other snacks, and find our way to one of the seemingly endless doors that lead to the big screens. Once seated we wait in anticipation for the show to start.

For us, half of the show is the preview of future attractions, the other half is the feature presentation. We like to see the previews for two reasons that apply to successful leadership. First, it allows us to make our personal future plans when we know where the industry is going. Secondly, it give us a glimpse into what to expect in the present (the feature film) because the future previews are geared towards what is thought to be the expectaions of the audience.

Here are four reasons that successful leaders provide a preview of future attractions:

Read More…

Leaders: Show and Tell doesn’t guarantee success

cs lewis, magicians nephewThe main responsibility of leaders is to influence people to follow your vision to success. If you have had any success as a leader you learned to share your vision with your actions as well as your words.  Some leaders stop right here; they believe that “Show and Tell” is all they have to do.  Some leaders go one step farther and think as long as people “Look and Hear” I know they are paying attention and success will follow.

Bill Cosby once said, “Every closed eye is not sleeping, and every open eye is not seeing.”

“Showing and telling isn’t enough; looking and hearing isn’t enough either.  What leaders need for success is seeing and listening which brings understanding and action.”

Here are three roadblocks to seeing and listening that you can overcome: 

1 – Your team members are not ready to accept your vision: Just like you prepare the ground to accept the seed, you must prepare your team to accept your vision.  Similarly, once the seed is planted, you water the ground to encourage the plant to take root; you must also reinforce your vision.

“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.” – Robertson Davies

There is a saying among presenters that goes like this: “Tell them what you are going to tell them, Tell them, Tell them what you told them.” These three steps are the keys to success to ensure your message is heard and understood.

Tell them what you are going to tell them: In this step you are preparing the audience to comprehend your message.  Your goal is to make your message as understandable as possible.  Tell the audience what they should look for in your presentation by outlining the points you are going to make.

Tell them: This is the step where you plant the seed.  Following the points you outlined in the first step, you add stories, jokes, and quotes that support your premise.

Tell them what you told them: In this final wrap up, you are reinforcing your points to take root by giving a call to action to use what they heard today to make a difference.

2 – You are not at the level that your team members need In his autobiography, Will Rogers said, “The fellow that can only see a week ahead is always the popular fellow, for he is looking with the crowd.  But the one that can see years ahead, he has a telescope but he can’t make anybody believe he has it.”

By definition, great leaders look from the top of the mountain, always searching for the future success of the team. From the top of the mountain you see far and wide but without great detail.  It is only from the ground that the detail becomes clear. If you want the attention to be turned from you and to the vision, you have to come down from the mountain.

“What you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.” – C.S. Lewis

My advice to visionary leaders is: “Don’t just shout your vision from the top floor, live it on the office floor.”

3 – You have not managed expectations When you ask people to follow you, what do you think they expect to happen?  Great leaders are great because they have a history of being great.  They have demonstrated time and again that following them leads to success to everyone on the team.

Without a history of success to draw upon, your team will set its expectations on the history they know – the past. You have to create success in small ways before you are allowed to ask for dedication in big ways.  There is no better way to remove doubt or fear than through the observation of success.

“People see and hear actions and words that fulfill their expectations.” – Denis G. McLaughlin

There are three age old steps you should follow to build small successes and set the right expectations:

1 – Do it for them – Go ahead, jump in the water first and show them it’s ok for swimming.

2 – Do it with them – The first time you skydive it’s in tandem, strapped to an expert.

3 – Watch them do it – So you can applaud and cheer.

Remember leaders, show and tell doesn’t guarantee success; only understanding and action can do that.

 

 Scroll to top