Tony Dungy

How will you respond to a tough situation?

How will you respond to a tough situation?

We are all faced with tough situations in our life.  They’re unavoidable.  You don’t always have the choice to avoid the tough situation – but you do have the choice on how to respond and achieve the most positive outcome possible.  Over the years I’ve found that if I plan the steps to take ahead of time – when I am not in a tough situation – I can rely upon them to get through.  Here are the steps I take each time:

Relax and take a breath. What is the real risk?  In stress our first response is to tense up.  Our muscles tighten, our field of vision narrows we’re looking for the immediate danger. In these situations, we can often miss the big picture.  The first step in responding to a tough situation is to take a breath – literally.  Pause before you react then inhale slowly and exhale slowly. Now calmly assess the real risk.

“Panic causes tunnel vision. Calm acceptance of danger allows us to more easily assess the situation and see the options.” -Simon Sinek

Decide how to respond. What do we do now?  Now that you have calmly narrowed in on the real risk, you are ready to decide on the best move for the short term – then do it.  Don’t keep analyzing, don’t second guess, just take action to resolve the immediate danger in the most beneficial way for all involved.

“It’s not the situation, but whether we react negative or respond positive to the situation that is important.” – Zig Ziglar

Use it to improve. What do we next? Once you face the immediate response that is needed at that moment, it’s time to evaluate.  You and others will be energized to solve the long term issue.  How did we get in this situation to begin with?  What can we change in the future to not be faced with this same situation again?  It is time to adjust for the next time.  Learn from what happened and build something better.

“When you’re in a situation, you can complain about it, you can feel sorry for yourself, you can do a lot of things. But how are you going to make the situation better?” – Tony Dungy

Simple, yet powerful questions

Throughout my career I’ve witnessed many projects succeed tremendously. Unfortunately, I’ve also seen a fair share of projects get off track and not finish well.  For those that succeeded, the three below questions were answered before the project started.  For the ones that got off track, at least one of the questions was not settled and caused problems later on.

These three questions are paramount to any project’s success. Answer them well and the odds of success rise.

What are you trying to accomplish?This could also be framed as why am I doing this.  What outcome are you ultimately hoping will come in the end.  It’s not the project itself, it’s the impact of the project.  Think way beyond the immediate to the long term. This gives a greater sense of purpose that will drive the team to completion when tough situations come – and they always do.  This will establish the true north when it’s time to make choices among multiple paths – the one that brings you closer and quicker to the impact is the one to choose.

“You’ve got to define yourself by who you impact and how you impact people.” – Tony Dungy

How are you going to accomplish it?  No plan is ever executed exactly as it was written when you started the project.  That is not the point here.  Plans change when circumstances change and that is fine.  The key to answering this question is to be realistic.  Identify the risks, what could go wrong, what roadblocks do you face right now.  Take these into consideration when you plan, and you won’t set unlikely expectations that will inevitably lead to derailment.

“If you align expectations with reality, you will never be disappointed.” – Terrell Owens

Who do you need to accomplish it?  You know what you want to accomplish and how you want to get there – now comes who you need to execute that plan.  And by who, I don’t necessarily mean the name of a person, I mean the skill set. Be clear about the specific actions that need to take place and then you find people with the ability to get that done.  There are likely people right around you on the team that will naturally fill these roles, but it’s always better to first define the goal then fill team with people who will lead you to accomplish the goal.

“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”– Steve Jobs

 

How do champions give 100 percent?

champions-give-100-percentHow do you give 100 percent to all the important activities in your life? Do you give part of your time to each one – if there are five activities, should you give twenty percent to each? No you should give 100 percent to each, when you focus on each one. This isn’t 500 percent, its 100 percent five times. When you focus on one thing, the others are not on your agenda at the moment. Champions give 100 percent attention to each activity…one activity at a time.

Baseball great Yogi Berra is known for his great quotes that meant more than meets the eye. On the topic of dividing your 100 percent he said, “You have to give 100 percent in the first half of the game. If that isn’t enough, in the second half, you have to give what’s left.” Always give 100 percent of you.

A basketball season covers six months and 82 games. Every game counts if you want to be the best. Three times NBA champion, four times NBA Most Valuable Player, LeBron James says, “Every night on the court I give my all, and if I’m not giving 100 percent, I criticize myself.” Bring all you have to each opportunity.

Rebuilding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1996 involved getting the team to think and act like champions. Tony Dungy evaluated the team at that time and said, “They were unwilling to give 100 percent if they didn’t personally think it was important. What you don’t understand is that champions know it’s all important.” Everything you do deserves your best.

John Wooden coached the UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team to ten NCAA national championships over twelve years. He said that practice was just as important as the games. “What you do in practice is going to determine your level success. I used to tell my players, you have to give 100 percent every day. Whatever you don’t give, you can’t make up for tomorrow. If you give only 75 percent today, you can’t give 125 percent tomorrow to make up for it.”

How do champions give 100 percent? The secret is they don’t divide up their 100 percent. Champions give 100 percent attention to each activity…one activity at a time.

 

 

Does a leader need power to lead?

leadership power - John MaxwellThe simple answer –Yes, leaders need power to lead.  John Maxwell said, “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.” Therefore, you need power in order to influence others if you want to be an effective leader.

The follow up question that we will explore is what kind of power does a leader need to lead?

There are two kinds of leadership power: those that fade and those that last.

Leadership Power that fades

These are the most often discussed, and unfortunately sometimes the most relied upon forms of Leadership Power. Let’s look at them and see why their effectiveness fades away in time if they are the only method used to influence others.

The Power of Position.  In this case, the leader has influence because of their position in the company.  They are in charge and can ask others to take actions based on that position.  This type of power fades as there is no sense of commitment or connection to a greater good. People only follow because they have to, not because they want to. 

“Leadership is action, not position.” – Donald H. McGannon

The Power of Perks.  All leaders can give away perks: raises, bonuses, vacation etc… None of these is bad in and of itself but realize as a leader, you will get the behavior you incent.  Your influence with this type of power fades as the commitment isn’t to the ultimate outcome, but to the immediate individual benefits.  When you rely too much on rewards you may find that people are working only for their rewards, which means decisions may be made that do not reflect the best answer for the team, company, customer, or shareholder.

 “The reward of a thing well done is having done it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Power of Punishment.  This is the opposite of the power of perks.  This enforces consequences for behavior you don’t want.  While your influence with this power will lead to short-term compliance, it will eventually create an atmosphere of insecurity and fear. People will become so afraid to make a mistake they will cease to make decisions and only do what they are specifically told by the leader.

“Nothing is more deflating to morale than to have a poor outcome pinned on someone who doesn’t deserve it.  It lacks integrity and overvalues the outcome at the expense of the people.” – Tony Dungy

Leadership Power that lasts

The types of Leadership Power which last, are not often seen as power.  In Leadership Power that lasts, the power is shared with others and not maintained by the leader.

The Power of Empowerment.  The true measure of a successful leader isn’t what they have – power, possessions, prestige – it is the legacy of empowering other leaders to achieve their own success.  Your success as a leader is defined by how many successful leaders you have helped grow.  Your influence as a leader will grow because of the success of those you influenced.

 “Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.” – John Maxwell

The Power of Character.  This is who you are inside.  Your intentions and your actions point in the same direction – helping others’ succeed.  With the power of your character you can influence people because of their respect for you.

“A leader…has authority due to their role, but their positional power will not bring about good for individuals or organizations unless it is backed up by the capital of character.” — Dan B. Allender

The Power of Conduct.  As a leader you and your team will face many tough circumstances.  You will need to influence them to not just survive, but thrive through these times.  Your conduct will be the key to their success.  When you remain calm, focused on the vision, and help your team find a plan the power of your conduct will be evident.

 “Circumstances are beyond human control, but our conduct is our power.” – Benjamin Disraeli

Leaders: How to orchestrate a successful comeback.

comebackThe word comeback has a couple of different definitions.  It can be used to mean a clever retort, usually in response to a negative comment.  Or it can indicate a return to a previous level of success.  If you want to learn more about the first definition of comeback I suggest you watch some Seinfeld television show reruns.  However, if you are interested in returning to your prior position, popularity or prosperity, read on.

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