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Development

Humans Project in Straight Lines

by Ron Potter January 6, 2022

“It’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” ~ Mark Twain

A friend of mine who recently retired and is now fighting cancer said to me the other day: You said something to me years ago that has helped me tremendously through these hard times. I immediately wonder what I might have said years ago that is having that kind of impact today. He then explained. You once said to me that the human mind projects in straight lines but nothing in the world runs in a straight line. I do remember learning and saying that. If things were going well, my mind assumed they would continue to improve. If things were going poorly, my mind assumed things would continue to get worse. It never works out that way.

Straight Line Projections

K&E Company (the makers of high-end slide rules) did a visionary study on their hundredth anniversary in 1967. I was a sophomore in college and did all of my calculations on a K&E slide rule. Their study missed the coming electronic calculator. K&E shut down their slide rule engravers in 1976.
A late 60″s prediction was cheap energy forever. The oil embargo happened in 1973.
By the late 80’s economic growth based on new industries and discoveries looked dim. Netscape went public with their internet browser in 1995.
People tend to overestimate what they’re experiencing at the moment and undervalue the possibilities in the future. This reinforces Mark Twain’s quote that it’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.

Straight Lines Tend To Be Short

It’s OK to make predictions and decisions based on how things are going today. The mistake that most leaders make is assuming that the trajectory they are on (up or down) will last longer than it ever does.

I’ve seen many examples of this during my consulting career. I’ll have to be careful telling about one example because if people know that industry, they’ll know which company I’m talking about. In this example, the particular company had been the industry leader for over a hundred years. They made the best and highest quality product within the industry. They assumed that trend would continue and made plans and decisions based on the fact that the public would always purchase the highest quality product available. But the buying public is finicky. They actually changed their behavior and started purchasing less expensive products in large numbers.

I watched another client struggle with losing customers. When the leaders asked some of their key employees why they were losing market share, the answer was “customers don’t see us as a nutritious option anymore.” The leaders discounted their own employees by proclaiming that their products have been seen and promoted as a nutritious project for over a hundred years. That couldn’t have changed overnight. But it had changed overnight while the leaders were still projecting in straight lines based on the past.

This last example is not about a particular company but an entire industry. Many of my clients through the years have been in the pharmaceutical industry. The pharma industry may be one of the riskiest industries in existence. They will often take several years and invest nearly a billion dollars bringing a drug to market only to have it fail to pass human trials or FDA approval at the last minute. I can’t think of any other industry that takes that kind of risk.

I’m going to make a political statement here that I often avoid. There has been a lot of discussion from our government on price controls. It’s not a price control issue, it’s a trade issue. Nearly all other countries in the world do put price controls on drugs. This leaves the United States carrying the burden of the cost of development. If the US also puts price controls in place, there will be no further development of new drugs. Let’s fix the trade issue and have other countries pay their fair share of development.

Once a new drug has been accepted and makes it to the marketplace, there are a limited number of years left on the original patent for the company to earn back the high cost of development. Once a drug goes off-patent and becomes generic, I’ve seen many companies assume that the brand name drug sales still have a life that will tail off slowly. It never does. Once a generic is available, sales of the brand name drug drop to zero almost immediately. Thinking in straight lines can be deadly.

What’s a Leadership Team To Do?

It can be difficult for leaders and leadership teams to not get caught in the straight line syndrome. Here are a couple of ways to avoid that issue:

Listen to the outlier. When there is an outlier on the team their opinion is often discounted. It’s just easier to go with the majority rather than reconcile the outlier’s thoughts. Don’t do that. Listen to what they have to say. Listen with the intent to understand rather than reply. Don’t try to fit their thinking into your view of the world. Listen to how they see the world differently.
Nurture new and inexperienced employees to look at things differently. People from different disciplines view things differently. Listen to how they see the issue. Inexperienced employees often have the freshest views on things. They don’t know what they don’t know yet. They often ask interesting, novel, and surprising questions that experienced people have forgotten.
Listen to experts carefully. “Experts” know the answers they’re looking for and discount new ideas and outliers. We need our experts. But don’t just assume that their answers and opinions are right or the final answer. They know what they’re looking for and discount answers and opinions that don’t agree with their preconceived ideas.

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Papa by the Pond

by Ron Potter December 16, 2021

The Essay

This was an essay written by my granddaughter:

“Bend your knees, watch the ball, steady swing. Good Job, you hit the green.” A very influential person in my life has been my grandfather. He has taught me so many things. Through all the ups and downs of life, he has been the same Papa Bear who is always cheering me on and making me feel special. I want him to know I appreciate everything he has done in my life and even the small acts of kindness don’t go unnoticed.

My grandpa is the most kind-hearted person I know. He is always asking how I’m doing, my opinion on things, and what I’m interested in. He always wants to know about what I’ve been up to and he never gets bored when we talk. My grandpa asked me what my favorite TV show was. I said The Flash. That night he went home and started watching it. The next time I saw him he had all these questions for me about the show. He made me feel really special and like someone cared about my opinion. My grandpa has so much kindness in his heart and he shows it to everyone. He has shown me there is always a reason to be kind to someone and strive to live that way every day.

Papa Potter has had many health problems but he never lets them keep him from still investing in my life or playing golf with his friends. He takes time with everyone he cares about and makes sure they know he loves them and they are important. My grandpa makes me feel so special even with all the things going on in his life and being super tired all the time. He still takes the time to teach me to golf or just talk. He takes his time every summer to take all the grandchildren to the golf course. He lets all of us hit as many as we want and gives us pointers so we can get better. My grandpa has taught me that even with everything going on in this world, I can’t let it take up my whole life. Even if I am stressed and have multiple things going, it doesn’t need to control my life. I have to keep living and loving.

Last year, my grandpa received the Alumni of the Year award from his high school. He had to make a speech for the event and he never talked about himself. He only talked about all the people who influenced him. He always cares about others before himself. He has shown me it is really important to be humble and care for others and not be so consumed with one’s self. No one will get anywhere in life if all they care about is themselves. They won’t make life-long friends that will help them grow to become a better person. Being humble is the most important thing my grandpa has taught me.

My grandpa is an engineer and he comes up with the coolest things to do with his grandchildren. He makes the activities fun while still teaching us something important. One summer, my family and I were up north at our cabin. It is right by a little creek that we can float down. He took us to the beginning of the creek and we would stop every 50 feet and then draw the shape of the creek and write down what we saw. After we made it all the way to our cabin, we put all of our drawings together and made a map of the creek with all the bends and bridges. It was the highlight of my summer. My grandpa has a very innovative mind and puts so much energy into creating something fun for everyone.

I want to tell my grandpa I love him and thank him for everything he has done for me. He has been the most influential person in my life and I don’t know what I would do without him. He is such a kind and amazing human being. I want him to know his grandchildren appreciate everything he has done because I know we don’t tell him enough. If I could tell him anything I would tell him I love him and he is my favorite person in the world.

My grandpa has taught me too many things to count. The way he gives kindness, his drive, and his humility have all been very influential attributes in my life. He is my favorite person.

I admit I cried when I read her essay.

Mentor

However, I immediately thought about being a mentor. Many of the people that my granddaughter talks about in the alumni speech I would consider mentors. They influenced my life. They added directions to my thoughts and in many ways guided me.

Many of the things my granddaughter talks about in the essay should be considered mentoring—

Cheering another on.
Making another feel special.
Asking “How are you doing?”
Wondering “What’s your opinion on this topic?”

That is mentoring— building people up, helping them feel good about themselves and how they view the world.

Corporate Mentoring Programs

I’ve never been much of a fan of the structured mentoring programs I’ve seen at various corporations. They too often seem about the older person parceling out their “wisdom” to the younger person. They seem to be about tasks and projects, not about the value and worth of the employee. They aren’t really mentoring programs, they’re more about training programs and telling the person what and how to do things.

True mentoring programs are powerful. Pseudo mentor programs are somewhat demeaning.

Full Story

Just to give the full story here, when I told my granddaughter that I cried when I read her essay. She said “Oh good. When I tell my teacher that it will probably get me some extra credit.”

Oh well, so much for being a good mentor!

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Blog Leadership

7% Increase in Shareholder Returns

by Ron Potter July 8, 2021

Did that title capture your attention? What company today wouldn’t like to provide that kind of increase to their shareholders?

185 CEO’s

A research paper looked at 185 CEO’s and the performance of their companies in the S&P 500 between 2000 and 2013. The conclusion was that the more humble leaders produced 7% higher value to their shareholders. The paper used modesty, fairness, and sincerity to measure their “humbleness” Let’s take a look at these three characteristics.

Modesty

A dictionary definition says “the quality of being unassuming or moderate in the estimation of one’s abilities.”

Unassuming. There are several areas where a person can be unassuming or assuming. Any of them can be good or bad. One statement I like comes from Jordan Peterson in his book, 12 Rules of Life. Rule number 9 says “Assume That The Person You Are Listening To Might Know Something You Don’t.” That’s a good thing to assume and it makes you unassuming. When leaders make this assumption about their team, it’s inspiring and leads to great conversations about the business.

Moderate about one’s abilities. I think the word moderate is key. Not too high, not too low. It’s interesting to me that team members often prefer to work for a boss that they consider above average or even higher. It only becomes an issue if the boss starts believing her own press and assuming she knows more than everybody else on the team. Remember Jordan Petersons rule number 9. As long as the leader remains unassuming, the team loves a strong, knowledgeable leader.

Trust Me

In my book, Trust Me: Developing a Leadership Style that People Will Follow, the number one characteristic is Humility. The word has lost its original definition over time. The early definition was “tremendous strength under complete control.” As I mentioned earlier, people like leaders who have great strength and ability but are modest or humble at the same time. That’s the winning combination.

Many leaders exhibit power and strength in their roles. They may get things done but they don’t build great teams and they don’t develop shareholder value.

Be a humble leader. The rewards are high and the relationships you develop will be tremendously valuable over time.

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Blog Leadership

The World’s Top Executive Coach?

by Ron Potter July 1, 2021

I spent much of my career being an executive coach, so I was very interested to see who the Wall Street Journal had named the World’s Top Executive Coach.

So who did the Wall Street Journal identify? Queen Elizabeth!

My wife and I have been big fans of the TV drama The Crown. Several times in the series The Queen met with the then-current Prime Minister. Her very first such meeting was with Winston Churchill in 1952 when she was 26 years old. That sounds like a pretty intimating start to me!

Giving Orders

British law forbids the queen from giving orders or publicly taking sides on matters of state. Her only constitutional right is to be kept informed. However, she is free to ask questions and offer her point of view. It’s amazing how powerful genuine questions can be.

As Britain’s longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth views herself as an impartial advocate for the people. But her primary motive, it seems, is to be helpful. She often ministers to her ministers.

Broader Perspective

The article says that “One of her greatest assets is an unrivaled wealth of historical perspective. I have found this broader perspective to be useful in many settings. Sometimes I will hear my grandchildren (becoming young adults now) say things because they’ve heard some of our misguided public officials say so. I’m sure I sound like an old man to them much of the time but I simply try to help them see a subject from a much broader perspective. Even if I restrict that perspective to my own lifetime, it covers over 50 years more than theirs. I watched socialism form, turn to dictatorships, and collapse. They have none of that experience when they seem to talk fondly of a more socialistic government.

Safe and Secure Place to Talk

The article talks about how The Queen gives the prime ministers a safe place to speak openly without fear of reprisal.

I used to meet with one CEO an afternoon every month. I would show up after lunch and we would talk about anything on his mind sometimes running well past the 5:00 quitting time. Leaving the meeting late one evening his personal assistant asked me (a little too seriously I might add) if I was selling drugs. My response was of course not but why would she ask me such a thing. She said that the CEO never gave anyone more than an hour of his calendar. I would show up and we would spend several hours talking and laughing.

The Queen also provides prime ministers with something few world leaders ever get— a safe place to speak openly without fear of reprisal.

Queen Elizabeth’s role isn’t vastly different from that of a traditional executive coach. Most business leaders who employ coaches tend to swear by them. One recent study found that 71% believed coaching improved the performance of their companies, while 69% reported making better decisions.

Truly great coaches are a rare breed. It’s hard to find someone who possesses both vast experience and a keen sense of the present. But Queen Elizabeth’s approach to the job suggests that great coaches need something else, too— a deep reservoir of restraint.

Most great mentors will often have a better grasp on a tricky situation than the person they’re advising. But they’ll resist the urge to be a helicopter coach. The only way to help leaders learn and grow is to allow them to make their own mistakes.
The only responsible method is to let them speak openly, guard their secrets and, once in a while, try to redirect their thinking incrementally. Doing that requires humility—and lots of practice.

Good at powerful questions

This is something everyone should understand. If you look at that heading again you’ll notice that coaches (I suggest this applies to everyone though) are good at using powerful questions. If said another way, good questions are powerful!

One source you can turn to is the book A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger. The subtitle is “The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas.” In his book, Berger refers to a recent research study of thousands of top business executives which found that the most creative, successful business leaders have tended to be expert questioners.

Berger is a source I’ve mentioned many times in this blog. Listen with the intent to understand, don’t listen with the intent to respond. Also in his book, Berger says “throughout his life Einstein saw curiosity as something holy. To see curiosity as holy, you must ask questions with the intent to understand. Be Curious!

Leaders and Coaches

I don’t care if you’re a leader, a team member, or a coach. Being good at any role requires—

A broad perspective
The integrity required to make conversations safe and secure
The curiosity to listen and learn.

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Blog Leadership

PREgret

by Ron Potter May 20, 2021

Years ago I was thinking about the regrets in my life. I was asking myself if there were things I should have or could have done to eliminate or reduce the number of regrets. As I was thinking about the topic, I notice a familiar pain in my sternum. I began to realize that I had a physical manifestation when I regretted something I had said or done. I began to ask people I knew where their regret pain manifested itself.

Where is the pain?

Everyone seemed to have a different answer. I heard locations like:

Neck
Shoulders
Forehead
The base of the skull
Forearms
etc.

The answers were many and varied, but the pain was a given. No one questioned the pain itself, they just had different answers of where it was located.

“Listen” to the pain

If the pain always shows up somewhere, become familiar with it. The pain can and will become very familiar. If the pain is present and identifiable, you will “know” you are in one of those moments that will result in regret. Here’s the key, “will result in regret”.

Regret Pre-Indicator

Through experience, I began to learn that the pain was a precursor of regretful actions. I eventually read some science about how these neurotransmitters work and indeed, there is an early warning system. That means that the pain you become familiar with is actually a precursor to the thing you’re about to do or say will cause regret— PREgret!

I don’t know if this is a good thing or bad thing but I have become so aware of my “regret pain” that it often triggers a debate in my head:

You’re about to say something that you’re going to regret.

I know, but I think it needs to be said.

But you will regret it! Maybe you should just back off a minute.

But it needs to be said. I’m going to say it anyway.

REGRET

Where does it hurt?

Become familiar with your “regret” pain. If you tune into it, you’ll have a lot fewer regrets in life.

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Blog Myers Briggs Type Indicator Myers-Briggs

Myers Briggs Type Indicator: Energizing

by Ron Potter March 18, 2021

Extroversion or introversion. Where do you get your energy from? In Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) this is known as your energizing function. More importantly, if you’re making a decision, which side of the pair do you need to be in when you are comfortable or convinced the decision you’re making is right. We are energized by extraversion or introversion.

Extravert or Introvert Labels

I think this pair more than any of the others has been misused when we label people. I clearly fall on the extraversion side of this pair. In fact, when I take the assessment I usually have the highest possible score on the extraverted side. People often assume that extroverts talk all the time.

Even though I score the highest possible score in that area, I spend a great deal of time reading and thinking quietly. My amazon statistics indicate that I read somewhere between 50 and 100 books a year. I spend that time in silence. I enjoy writing these blogs, creating visuals, both Powerpoints and animations, for my consulting work.

Every month or so I look forward to getting up to my cabin which sits in the middle of 500 acres of wilderness in northern Michigan to enjoy the quiet, solitude, time to think, and time to write. I spend much of my time being completely quiet. This is not a trait associated with extroverts.

However, if I’ve been thinking through a concept or a decision I have to make during this quiet time, I must talk it over with someone before I’ll make the decision I’m confident about. If I make a decision with quiet time only, then I’m always questioning the decision. I need to talk it through with someone. I need their thoughts and opposing views to be sure of my decision in the end. I am energized by my extraversion preferences!

Introverts Can Be Talkative

One of the traits of introverts is that if they’ve had time to think about a topic (which puts them into the introverted preference), they’re ready to talk. They will be fully engaged in the conversations and willing to share their thoughts. However, if we extraverts suddenly bring up an idea they haven’t had time to quietly think about they may go quiet.

What I’ve seen happen more often with teams is the introvert will simply repeat what they’ve already said. It can often sound as if they are saying to us “Didn’t you hear what I just said? Let me repeat.” In fact, the extraverts heard what they said, this was simply a new thought. But springing a new thought without time to quietly think about it doesn’t go over well for the introvert so they repeat what they have thought out.

How to Accommodate Introverts

Let’s face it, meetings are designed by and meant for extraverts. Why do we have meetings? To get together and talk.

One of the best approaches to accommodate both the extravert and introvert in meetings is for a wise moderator to:

Stop the Discussion
Ask everyone to write down what they think the three best ideas were based on the discussion
Give them time to write down their thoughts
After a reasonable amount of time, ask each member to put their best idea on the flip chart

It’s always fascinating to me to watch what happens during this “writing” time.

The introverts will do something to cut off the “chaos” in the room. They’ll put one hand over their eyes, or they’ll turn away from the team with their pad or they might even move elsewhere inside or outside the room. But this allows them to think. Almost immediately the thoughts clarify and they start writing. They’ll often write more than the requested three things and then either rank-order them or combine them.

Meanwhile, the extraverts may write the number one thing that was obvious to them. Sometimes they’ll even write two things but they seldom get three things written down. What do they do? They move over to the refreshment area where the rest of the extraverts have gathered so they can talk. By doing so, they’ll come up with their list of three and then regather at their seats.

The wise moderator then begins to go around the room and ask each person to contribute their number one item to the list. In doing so, the moderator has essentially kept the environment on the introverted side even though people are beginning to speak. Once the list is exhausted, the moderator will open it back up to discussion thus moving it back to an extraverted environment.

Meetings are extraverted environments. They don’t have to dedicate 50% to talking and 50% to quiet time. However, if you don’t build in some quiet time, you will lose the brainpower of a high portion of the participants.

I’ve often asked the introverts what happens to them as soon as they walk out of the room at the end of the meeting. They will all say something like “I wish I had said that —It all of a sudden became so clear to me!” What they’re saying is they didn’t have the opportunity to “think” during the meeting.

We must create an environment that allows everyone to capture their best thoughts.

Archetypes

The statistics on MBTI have proven to be the same around the world. However, I’ve observed that each culture has its ideal of what type a great leader is or should be.

In North America, we tend to hold up the extraverts as leaders. They should be outspoken, confident, leading through words, and ready to handle change.

In Asia, it tends to be almost the opposite. Their leaders should be soft-spoken, quietly confident, lead through action and think long term, not reacting to every change that comes along.

In an American office, if someone walks past the leader’s office and sees them sitting quietly, it’s assumed they are not doing anything so this might be a good time to interrupt them with a question. In Asia, if the leader is seen sitting quietly, it is assumed that they are deep in thought and should not be interrupted.

Statistics

For each of the four pairs, I’ll identify the split in the US Population, Leadership Teams, and Operations Teams.

The US Population is well researched and statistically sound. For Leadership Teams, I always used the database that I have gathered through the years. And even though it had a couple of thousand data points and should have been valid, I was always a little hesitant to say that it indicated anything beyond my own file. Then, one day I was able to see the database collected by the Center for Creative Leadership. They had tens of thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands) of leaders in their database. And to my great relief, their statics were exactly the same as mine.

Operations teams are the teams in the organization that are responsible for the rubber hitting the road. If the company makes widgets, this team is responsible to get as many widgets out the door as fast and cheaply as possible. The head of the Operations Team is usually part of the Leadership team.

Once we see the splits of these three data sets, it’s worthwhile to ask if there is anything to be learned.

US Population – Extraversion = 50% Introversion = 50%

Leadership Teams – Extraversion = 62% Introversion = 38%

Operation Teams – Extraversion = 56% Introversion = 44%

One of the things learned here is that Leadership Teams are more extraverted than Operation Teams and a lot more extraverted than the general population. This is a talkative bunch!

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Blog Leadership

Truths of Life

by Ron Potter January 28, 2021

Truths of life can come in many forms. I found this list from Dr. Travis Bradberry to be pretty complete and comprehensive.

Great success is often preceded by failure

All too often we think that success came easy to a person. We might think they’ve always been successful and their current success is simply a continuation of that. However, it doesn’t take much discussion with successful people to hear about the failures and moments of frustration on the road to success. If you’re one of those people that think being successful just naturally happens to some, then you’re admitting that you don’t have the fortitude to live through and work through the failures in order to experience success. And to be clear, I’m not talking about large financial success. I often think of conscientious teachers who struggle and suffer wondering if they’ll ever make a breakthrough in a student’s life. They don’t always experience it but when they do have a positive impact, there’s nothing quite like it.

Being busy does not equal being productive

This one seems to be pervasive in today’s world. If people are busy all day, they think that is being productive! I’ve experienced a couple of “moments” in my life when I have worked hard at eliminating the word busy from my everyday language. I often find myself in that trap. I might think I really needed to connect with someone but was too busy to get it done. That’s just an excuse. Being too busy simply means I chose not to put an item higher on my priority list.

I was told once by a Japanese acquaintance that the word busy was made up of two symbols in their written language. The first symbol would be interpreted as a human being. The second symbol would be interpreted as a destroyer. Together the word busy would be translated as “human destroyer.” Don’t let busyness destroy you.

You’re only as good as those you associate with

We work hard at instilling this in our kids. They shouldn’t hang out with that person or crowd because they’re a bad influence on them. We seem to forget this as an adult. Even worse, we think because we’re adults we’re strong enough and wise enough to not let it happen to us. Wrong. If you don’t associate with positive, can-do people, you’ll never make it on your own. Even if it means leaving the company you work for, do it. You must hang out with people who are positive and care for you and others as valuable human beings.

You’re living the life you created

It’s easier to think of ourselves as victims of circumstances when things are not as we wish they should be. The truth is, you’ve created the life you’re living by the choices you’ve made. Maybe you can’t stomach or tolerate failure. Maybe you’re just being busy assuming that’s being productive. Maybe you’re not associating with the types of people that have your best interest at heart. You’ve made these decisions! You’ve created this life. Don’t blame others or circumstances.

Fear is the number one source of regret

Fear of failure. Fear of loss. Fear of what others might think of you. Fear of change. These are the things that kept you from doing things but that bring you regret now.

You don’t have to wait for an apology to forgive

Lack of forgiveness is like cancer. It will eat your insides out. If you need an apology before you forgive then it’s not really forgiveness anyway. It’s simply a barter. Forgiveness is not bartered.

Live in the moment

Bradberry says “No amount of guilt can change the past, and no amount of anxiety can change the future.” I don’t live in the past. There is nothing you can do about it so why worry about it. However, I’m really bad about living in the future. I don’t believe I’m anxious about it, but I think more about the future than I do about the moment. I’ve missed a lot along the way by living too much in the future.

Your self-worth must come from within

You know those people who seem to be worried more about what people think, what people might think, or how they think others view them. There is no value in this kind of worry. If you’re not comfortable with who you are it won’t make a difference anyway. Remember, you’re living the life you created.

Life is short

This one is so much clearer the older we get. Wise people don’t need to get physically old before they realize this. Life is short. Don’t waste your time being busy. Don’t waste your time with a priority list that is not important to you. Live life in the moment.

Change is inevitable—embrace it

Life doesn’t happen in straight lines. It’s constantly changing. It can easily throw you out of your comfort zone. But it’s inevitable. The sooner you realize that the easier it is to handle change. Make the right decisions. But don’t regret it if you don’t make the right decision. That’s in the past; there is nothing you can do about it. Life is short. Live it in the moment. It will be a different moment tomorrow!

A list of ten is too big of a number for most of us to keep track of and remember each day. Pick one or two of these truths. Use those to be a better person and to live a more enjoyable life. The one or two might change over time but concentrate on a couple that are creating more discomfort for you than they should. Then live an enjoyable life.

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Blog Team

Thankful and Discouraged

by Ron Potter December 31, 2020

Today is the last day of 2020. It has completely changed the meaning of 20-20 hindsight. In fact, I hope it continues to fade in the rearview mirror.

Almost all of our Christmas cards described the rough year that was 2020. It was a joy to hear the comments about how thankful and grateful people were through all of the difficulties.

Thankful

The things I’m thankful for include my family (all healthy and living around the world), the Lord and his personal love and forgiveness, and all the things that make life bearable or easier. We are warm, have a roof over our head, and people beyond family around us that love and care for us as well.

Discouraged

The thing that discourages me the most from this year is the loss of human contact. In public, we have masks between us, are able to elbow bump at the best, and have nowhere to meet. I used to arrange to meet people for coffee on a regular basis. And so we rely on video conference. It’s just not the same.

All of my grandchildren do well with their video schooling. But what they talk about the most is not being able to be with their friends. They need human contact. I went to a small rural school system where most of my classmates were together all the way through graduation. We still get together annually and I truly do love these people. We didn’t know each other in the work world where you’re measured on your productivity. We knew each other because we were together. We shared our life dreams together. We share the difficulties with each other. We encouraged each other. We were human beings together.

What We Used to Know as Teams

Highly effective teams got to know each other as humans. We shared together. We journeyed together. We accomplished outstanding things together. If you saw someone on the team who seemed to be struggling, it was easy to take them aside, shake their hand or put a hand on their shoulder and ask, “Are you OK?” Human touch! None of that is possible in a video conference.

Today I hear leaders talk about how productive teams are because there is no time for this kind of thing during a video call. It requires that you get to the topic at hand, receive updates if necessary, set the next goals, and assign the people who will be responsible. The productivity is great! But “team-building” is not. Productivity may remain high for a period of time, but a highly-effective team needing to tackle very complex or innovative solutions will never be built.

Technical Solution

There are no technical solutions to solve this problem. However, a team I’ve been working with has formed an app called GPS4Leaders to help overcome some of these issues. While we’ll never solve the lack of face-to-face issues or overcome the need for human touch, we have focused on where the team is starting to breakdown and how to overcome that issue. The system offers guidance in terms of where-to-look for helpful hints and offers what’s called a “Coach in a Box” to help guide the users in solving the problem they face. But, there’s still nothing like a true human connection to build trust and overcome issues.

Best Solution for the Moment

While I’ll stand by my statement above that there is no technical solution to this problem, there are some things that I believe could help.

Let’s start with understanding the purpose of the various forms of communication we have available today.

Email

Email is the oldest and possibly the most used communication software. However, email was intended to pass on information from one person to another or even several people at once. It was not intended to provide psychological understanding or even humor. It is a fact-based tool.

Text Messaging

Text messaging has likely taken over as the most used communication software. I have to convince my grandchildren that it is not universally used and it is probably worse at providing understanding or humor… hence emojis.

Social Media

I believe that social media was originally intended to share thoughts with lots of people but it seems to me that for the most part, it has allowed people to vent and make outrageous statements that they would never consider making when they are face-to-face with someone.

None of these technical solutions is good at building trust and understand. So what is a person supposed to do in this socially distanced world?

Pick up the Phone!

While a phone is still a technical solution that’s not quite as good as being face-to-face, it does allow for listening. Listening for emotional clues. Listening for understanding. Listening to show respect for the other person.

GPS4Leaders

This is where GPS4Leaders tries to help. Once issues are identified in the data, GPS4Leaders will encourage the team to talk through their beliefs about the issue or have one-on-one conversations for understanding, respect, and trust.

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Blog Culture

Rut or Groove?

by Ron Potter December 17, 2020

Are you in a rut or a groove?

One of the cartoons I enjoy is Animal Crackers by Mike Osbun. In a recent strip, one character with a glum face says, “I’m in a rut.” The other character with a cheerful face says “I’m in a groove.” The first character says “Trade ya.”

Definition of Rut and Groove

The definitions of the two words are surprisingly similar.

Rut: A long deep track made by repeated passage.

Groove: A long, narrow cut or depression, especially made to guide motion.

Notice that they are both long. However, the rut is deep and caused by repeatedly doing the same thing. Einstein says, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” That seems like a good definition of being in a rut.

Groove is defined as a narrow cut (not deep) but is there to guide your motion.

How Do We Move from Rut to Groove?

In the Animal Crackers cartoon, when the character says ‘trade ya’ he doesn’t seem to believe that trading is possible. He’s stuck in his rut and there’s nothing that can be done about it.

But there is something that can be done. Notice in the definitions that a rut is a deep cut while a groove is a narrow cut. All it takes is deciding to move from rut to groove.

The Mind Projects in Straight Lines

A friend of mine told me that something I had said to him 40+ years ago was helping him get through some tough times. He reminded me that I had learned early that the human mind tends to project in straight lines—if things are going bad, it seems like they’ll continue to go bad. If things are going good, we assume they will always be good. But life never travels along straight lines. Things constantly change.

When You’re in a Rut

If you’re in a rut, the straight lines projected by the mind believe you will always be in a rut. Not true! Things change. The real question is, how do we get into a groove sooner? How do we ‘trade ya’ as our Animal Cracker friend says? And there’s a simple answer to that question!

Attitude

It always amazes me how much attitude and outlook makes a difference.

There’s a story about the first days of NASA as they were preparing to go to the moon. One of the head scientists was on his way home late one night so he cut through the giant hanger that had been built for the spacecraft. As he was crossing the cavernous space, he saw one of the janitors sweeping up the floor. In an effort to make a human connection, he asked the janitor what he was doing. The janitor, with wonder in his eyes, said, ‘Haven’t you heard? We’re going to the moon!’ He wasn’t just pushing a broom, he was helping get the hanger ready, so they could go to the moon. Great attitude!

A woman who was in the audience when I was speaking wrote me a letter. She would drag herself out of bed and get to her job just because she needed to provide for her family. She hated it. She not only hated the company she worked for, she hated the industry because she assumed all the companies dealt with the same issues.

After listening to the message about attitude, she decided to change.

By the time she wrote to me, she couldn’t wait to get started at her job every morning. She loved her job, she loved the people she was working with, and she remembered why she chose that industry in the first place. It was still the same place on Monday that it had been on Friday when she heard the message about attitude. The only thing that changed was her attitude and remembering what she loved about her work to start with. Her attitude had changed—nothing else.

How much of your attitude impacts your energy and excitement about what you’re doing and where you’re doing it? Think about it. It may have more to do with it than you realize.

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Blog Leadership

Oxygen – Part III

by Ron Potter October 29, 2020

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve looked at the Project Oxygen findings at Google related to high-performing teams.

This list is from the book Work Rules by Laszlo Bock who is the person at Google that has helped shepherd the project.

The eight findings that help teams perform at their peak include:

A good coach
Empowers the team and does not micromanage
Expresses interest in and concern for team members’ success and personal well-being
Is productive and results-oriented
A good communicator – listens and shares information
Helps with career development
Has a clear vision and strategy for the team
Has key technical skills that help advise the team

In this week’s blog, we’ll cover the last three findings.

6. Helps with career development

As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs on this topic, it’s difficult for me to distinguish between Leadership issues and Team issues. This has mainly to do with my Mental Model of Team, Leadership, Culture.

This is not to say that Laszlo’s approach is incorrect, it’s just that I come at it from a different perspective.

In my mind, it’s difficult for a team to help a member in their career development. Teams can certainly contribute but it is often the leader who is in the best position to help with career development. What comes to mind is the lack of career development. I have often been hired as a consultant to work with an individual who has “gone off the rails” in the mind of their leader. The leader will tell me that unless this person deals with the issue, they will no longer have a position at the company. In every case, the individual has held a senior position in the company, often they have been Vice-Presidents.

Shocking News

When possible, I have looked back over several years of performance reviews. It’s always been amazing to me that if the person has worked for the company for any length of time, their annual performance reviews mention the issue I’ve been hired to help them deal with. And yet, when I mention to the individual that unless they correct this issue they will no longer have a position with the company, they’re shocked. They’ll say to me something to the effect that “no one has ever mentioned to me that my continued employment depends on me fixing this problem.”

People Pleasing

Why is there such a disconnect? The person dealing with the issue says “no one” has ever told me it could cost me my job. The person hiring me to tell the person will say, “I’ve put this issue in every performance review for the last several years.” Why the disconnect? I believe it’s because almost everyone wants to be a people pleaser and believe that giving people bad news counters that desire. Managers will say to an employee “you must fix this issue.” They might even say “unless this issue is fixed I can no longer keep you in this job.” But, because people don’t like to give bad news, they’ll almost immediately shift their conversation to tell the person all the things they do well. The bad news never sinks in or is dealt with. Think about that for a minute. My boss says to me: you must fix this issue. It can’t go on like this.

Yet almost immediately they will say: but I love how you handled such and such or you’re great at dealing with certain kinds of problems. What does the employee hear? Blah, blah, blah, but I love how you handle this or how you deal with these issues. You’re doing great!

If there is an issue that must be dealt with

state the issue
don’t accept excuses
don’t move on until the is a plan in place
make sure there are milestones to fix the issue
make sure the consequences are clear if the issue is not fixed

People Caring

The way to be people-pleasing is to be people caring. If people feel they are being held accountable with caring and support, they’ll be the happiest.

7. Has a clear vision and strategy for the team

Once again this sounds more like a leader issue than it is a team issue. However, while a leader should have a clear vision and strategy for the team, it should never be used to dictate to the team a course of action.

Team members need to be bought into the strategy/vision

If team members don’t have a shared strategy or vision, the team will never grow and develop together. I’ve worked with too many teams through the years that didn’t take the time or make the effort to develop a shared strategy/vision. In every case, competition develops as managers try to implement their own vision at the expense of others. It becomes a tremendous waste of resources.

Leaders must have a strategy/vision but leaders must also be humble enough to see beyond their own vision and they must have enough grit to bring the team together around a joint vision.

8. Has key technical skills that help advise the team

This final “Oxygen” is true at both the leader and the team member levels. Trustworthy teams and members must have both character and competence. It never works to have one or the other, there must be both.

Information Technology

From a leadership standpoint, I believe the Information Technology (IT) area of the business is the most vulnerable. The IT portion of the business is:

Complicated
Fast-moving/changing
Many faceted

I’ve seen too many IT leaders that fall short on one or all of these issues. When that happens, the IT department can buffalo the leader.

Tyranny of Competence

With team members, I have more often seen what Robert Quinn calls the “Tyranny of Competence” in his book, Deep Change. This happens when an individual has so much competence in a given area that it is felt the competency must be protected at all costs and therefore, the individual may have a lack of character and there are no consequences.

Character and Competence must be present for teams to thrive.

Project Oxygen

This covers the eight elements found to be meaningful in building great teams. Think about them. Incorporate them. Discuss them. The more you can build these into your own makeup or a team’s makeup, the more success and satisfaction you’ll experience in life.

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Blog Culture

Growth Mindset

by Ron Potter September 17, 2020

Fritz Seyferth is a great friend of mine and a wonderful executive coach and counselor. He promotes Growth Mindset as the first requirement of great leadership.

I recently read a short article by Andrew Cole titled “Adopting a Growth Mindset” on Linkedin.

Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset

Andrew talks of a Growth Mindset with a quote: “Failure is an opportunity to grow,” and a Fixed Mindset as “Failure is the limit of my abilities.” I think these are excellent summaries of each mindset.

Andrew also does a great job of using short statements to help you understand each mindset type.

Growth Mindset

I can learn to do anything I want
Challenges help me to grow
My effort and attitude determine my abilities
Feedback is constructive
I am inspired by the success of others
I like to try new things

Before I list the points of a Fixed Mindset, review each one of these in a silent moment of reflection. Do you fully believe one, some, or all of them? Are there elements of each that you don’t believe you possess or could accomplish?

Think about them for a minute. Think about them over time. Write down your thoughts and answers. (There’s something about writing that solidifies ideas and brings your thoughts to life).

Can you really learn anything you want? As I thought about that one I felt there were things I couldn’t learn. As I thought about them more, I began to realize they were things I didn’t want to learn. Why not?

Was I afraid I couldn’t learn them?
Did I really see no use for them in my life?
If I was able to learn them, would that enhance my life or open new doors for me?

As I began to think about the answers to these questions, I realized that I had to be very clear about what I did want to learn in my life and why. Where was I headed? Was I stuck? How would I rate my happiness level? Am I spending my time working on things that are meaningful to me now or will be in the future? All of that from examining one simple statement. That’s what a Growth Mindset can do for you.

Fixed Mindset

I’m either good at it or I’m not
My abilities are unchanging
I don’t like to be challenged
I can either do it or I can’t
My potential is predetermined
When I’m frustrated I give up
Feedback and criticism are personal
I stick to what I know

It was fascinating that as I wrote each one of these statements the name of another person came to mind. I could quickly and easily see the Fixed Mindset attributes in others. As with many things, it’s easy to see things in others and difficult to see them in ourselves.

But don’t just skip over these Fixed Mindset Attributes. Just like the Growth Mindset, examine yourself. It’s likely you’ll learn more than you did when you questioned the Growth Mindset attributes.

Learning About Yourself

One of the statements that Andrew Cole makes in his article says,

In adopting a growth mindset, my worries about my perceived intelligence or abilities have dramatically dissipated. I no longer value my ‘self-validation’ in the world.

I’ve realized how to ask better questions. Questions framed to generate conversation as a means of establishing trust with others. (italics are mine)

The subtitle on Fritz’s home page says

FS/A elevates leaders and connects individuals and teams to their purpose to positively alter the trajectory of organizations.

Growth Mindset

Do you have a growth mindset? Do you need a growth mindset? Only if you want to be happy. 😉

Examine yourself
Check out the LinkedIn article and what else Andrew Cole might have to say.
Contact Fritz at FS/A to get you and your team on a Growth Mindset trajectory.

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Blog

Realistic Optimism

by Ron Potter June 18, 2020

A bit ago, we talked about being a winner or loser vs being lucky or unlucky. This post continues with that as a backdrop.

Heidi Grant Halvorson has written many worthwhile books. She says “To be successful, you need to understand that vital difference between believing you will succeed and believing you will succeed easily.”

Succeeding Easily doesn’t happen

It’s a little bit like the unlucky vs losing that we discussed earlier. Someone was questioning me once about my shifting career choices through the years. I starting in Engineering, did a software start-up after seeing my first PC, then moved on to my real love which was consulting teams, and leaders.

The person was questioning me for advice about how they could make a similar shift in their life/career. While I only had my own experience to share I was willing to talk with them about making a shift. Partway through the conversation, they said, “Yea, but it’s easy for you.” I was speechless. I didn’t even know how to respond to that way of thinking. Inwardly I was thinking, “What about that sounded easy to you? Every one of these changes has been hard, costly, and took a great deal of sacrifice.” If you think this is easy, you’re from another planet!

Grit

Heidi Grant Halvorson, in her book Nine Things Successful People Do Differently covers a few things that the lucky/unlucky thinkers don’t get.

Be a realistic optimist is one of her points. While she applauds optimism, she also says “don’t underestimate how difficult it will be to reach your goal” It’s not luck. It’s not easy. It’s difficult!

Another of her nine things is grit. “Grit is a willingness to commit to long-term goals, and to persist in the face of difficulty.” Notice that word difficult again. None of this is easy. Be an optimist but don’t think success comes easily.

Optimism

The following comment was made about Warren Buffet, “Your success didn’t create your optimism. Your optimism led to your success.” A lot of people will say that it’s easy to be an optimist when you’ve succeeded, reached your goal, made lots of money. They have it backward. Success doesn’t lead to optimism. Optimism leads to success.

Optimism in the face of overwhelming odds

Ray Dalio is a self-made billionaire who heads up his own hedge fund. While Ray is quick to acknowledge and even morn the devastating human toll of the COVID-19 virus, he also says it represents an exciting turning point in history. Please understand that Ray is taken back and shaken by the effects of the virus. But along with that, he expresses optimism about this being a possible turning point in history.

Life is difficult.

Nowhere is it proclaimed that life is easy. If you believe that life should be easy or is easy for everyone but you, that’s when it gets really difficult.

Do yourself a favor. Take some time, figure out what will bring you the greatest enjoyment in your work and life, and start making realistic decisions to move in that direction. If you’re like me, it may take ten years to accomplish the shift. It’s not easy. It doesn’t happen without effort and setbacks. But if you stick with it you’ll be rewarded.

I was often asked the question, “When will you retire?” Inwardly I really didn’t understand the question. Outwardly I would say “I retired years ago.” The person would then point out that I still spent time with clients, reading, preparing, and a list of other things that helped me be of value to my clients. They assumed that was work. But it wasn’t work! It was rewarding. It was energizing. It was fun. I wasn’t working, I was having a great time providing value to my clients.

Figure out what will really make you happy in life (it’s not money). Make a decision. Head in that direction. Keep your optimism in the face of difficulties. Only then will you be rewarded in a way that is meaningful to you.

I’m pulling for you!

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