What's Wrong With Front Row Seats?

The most coveted seats at a concert are the front row seats. So why is it that in other settings nobody wants to sit in the front row? You have seen the empty front row at any big company meeting. The leader calls out, "Plenty of room up front," and nobody moves.

We want the front row at a concert because we value the performance. Apparently we don't share the same value for the speakers at a business meeting. Mostly they bore us. What would it take to become a front-row-worthy presenter? It's probably out of our reach.

On the other hand, we can lead by example and sit in the front row ourselves. Research has shown that students in the front row of class learn more. So, by taking our place right up front, we show how we value the presentation and we might learn a little more.

Jeff Taylor on Office Space

In the presentation I went to yesterday, Jeff Taylor mentioned that the staff at Eons had just given him an office, but that he didn't know what to do with it. He said his office at Monster was five comfortable chairs and a coffee table. Now that's an open-door policy.

Think about what you use your office for. In general, leaders need to get out of their offices more and go work with people. Very little leadership happens in your office. These days, it's not totally clear that leaders need one. Laptops are portable, files are on-line, and we all have cell phones. But, there is no need to be extreme.

Take the lessons from Taylor: Be accessible and work with the people.

Jeff Taylor on Attrition

I attended a networking event today that included a Q&A session with Monster founder Jeff Taylor. His newest project is the social networking site Eons for people 50 and over. It is like MySpace for people wise enough to use it productively. Taylor says you can sneak in at 49, but he is still too young to be a member.

Taylor shows a real passion and understanding for this underrepresented Internet demographic. "Retirement is a graduation," he says; not the end of a career, but the beginning of a life the retiree has been working toward for years. Taylor hopes to brand Eons as an exclusive club for those who are closing in on the career graduation rewards.

Taylor, who describes himself as undiagnosed with ADD, engrossed us with story after story from his career. The questions served as mere launching points for a series of fascinating glimpses into the philosophy of this entrepreneur. I'll be sharing more leadership take-aways in future posts.

Taylor started off talking about attrition. He said, "If I know you, I can keep you," adding that he was frustrated after Monster grew larger than 500 people because he didn't know everybody's name anymore. After hearing him speak, I don't believe he was exaggerating. His leadership lesson is that retaining employees depends on you knowing enough about them that you can relate to them as people rather than employees.

He told us a story about Eons employees celebrating the company's first anniversary by jumping into the ocean near their office in the Charlestown Navy Yard. "You have to jump in with your employees," Taylor said of both the celebratory swim and of daily work life. And I believe that he swims in the deep end every day with his team.

Another Great Thomas Paine Quote

Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.

Lead, Follow, or Get in the Way

Thomas Paine gave us the quote "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." We hear this old saw when a would-be leader is looking for a convenient way to displace another person who is getting in the way. The quote suggests this fourth choice of: getting in the way. Some leaders just can't stand to be questioned by anyone. Those leaders might as well say, "I'll have no questioning here."

I want to make an argument in favor of getting in the way, with a twist. Getting in the way is an act of not following. It is more deliberately being contrary to following. This non-follower does not like the direction the leader is heading. The non-follower is trying to stop that direction. Oddly, this non-follower is also a leader. Such a person is making a case for a different direction, but often without doing the important step of proposing what that different direction should be. Therein lies the twist: If you are going to be a leader and get in the way, you need to take the extra step of proposing an alternate direction.

Be ready to explain your concerns with the initial proposal. Be prepared to explain why your alternative is better. Make your case respectfully, and if necessary, privately. Since you are expecting the other would-be leader to consider your case, you also need to be genuinely willing to consider a response.

Working together, you two would-be leaders should be able to figure out a good direction for the team. Consider how great it would be if every team had two effective leaders instead of one beleaguered leader and a non-follower.

That Guy With the Nametag

Tim Milburn over at studentl.inc pointed me to Scott Ginsberg's latest book Make a Name for Yourself. Scott has taken the unusual step of making his book available for free download with the expectation that once you read it you will want to buy it. He is right.

Scott wears a nametag everywhere he goes to be more approachable and make other people friendlier. He is a very encouraging person, and his book is chock full of practical life lessons, including much of value to growing leaders. It is very easy reading and given the price, you have no excuse not to read it.

"Impedership" vs. Leadership

Dale Dauten writes the syndicated business column The Corporate Curmudgeon. In his February 4, 2007 column in the Boston Globe, he coined the term "impedership" to describe leaders who decrease the productivity of their employees by acting like jerks. "Impedership" not only slows down your team's productivity, but gives you a reputation as a jerky manager that follows you in your career. The folks at ej4, a corporate training company, ran with the idea and created a great video expanding on it. I hope you don't see too much of yourself in the video, but if you do, have the courage to address the problem immediately.

Volunteer for Leadership Training

In the workplace, leaders have an unfair advantage in getting their teams to follow them: Their employees want to keep their jobs. Hopefully, you aren't the kind of leader who overtly threatens your employees if they don't support your direction. Nevertheless, your employees understand that if they don't follow your leadership, they risk not satisfying you and at best limiting their career options.

On the other hand, leaders of volunteer organizations recognize that volunteers can walk out any time they feel like it. Because of this, volunteer leaders learn how to motivate their teams without the advantage of fear. Success in this arena depends on a leader's ability to understand what will motivate each team member and address those needs.

I gained many of my leadership instincts in college as the editor of our student-run yearbook. I encourage you to take a turn leading volunteers. At the very least, you contribute some of your skills to your community. You may also learn something.

Corporate leaders too easily rely on their power to drive their teams to follow them. Power certainly works, but using only power doesn't give you the hearts of your team members. If you want the hearts of your employees, you need to understand and work with what motivates them to support your vision. Getting your employee's full support is worth putting away the easier, fear-based leadership approach.

Leadership Requirement for College Admissions

I'm on vacation this week with my family. We are taking my daughter on college tours. The admissions officer at the college we visited today said she looked for two things on an application that I hadn't expected. First was evidence of an ability to take on a long-term commitment. She wants to see that the student is able to participate in anything for multiple years. The second unexpected thing she looks for is leadership experience. The admissions officer explained that leadership experience shows a level of passion that drives you to share what you are passionate about with others. She also explained that only the truly passionate are willing to do the management required for everyone else to participate. There are lessons for us everywhere if we listen for them.

Get Comfortable Presenting

Most people feel uncomfortable giving presentations. Unfortunately, effective leaders often find themselves in the spotlight. Don't presume, though, that other leaders feel comfortable giving presentations. While some do feel comfortable, many have merely learned to look comfortable. Nevertheless, they don't shy away from getting up front. Here are some hints for feeling more comfortable with public speaking:

• Start small - if the best you can do is speak up more at meetings, then do so. The more you practice the more comfortable you will feel. If you can speak comfortably to a group of four people, practice that.
• Work up to larger groups - challenge yourself to speak to groups a little larger than you feel comfortable with. Over time, you will acclimate to larger and larger audiences.
• Know your material - the root of many people's discomfort is a fear of looking foolish. the better your know your material, the more comfortable you will feel presenting it.
• Have a plan - more than knowing your material, you need to have a plan for what you want to achieve with your presentation. Focus your presentation on just those things that you need to present to achieve your plan.
• Learn from others - don't just listen to when other people present. Look for what you like and don't like in how they present. This gives you many more opportunities to improve your skills.
• Practice, practice, practice - face your fears by seeking out opportunities to speak in public. Call meetings where you might otherwise send an email. Stand up at a whiteboard where you might otherwise run a meeting from a chair. Volunteer to facilitate meetings for peers. The more you practice, the more comfortable you will feel.

Communication is one of our key leadership tools and we can't afford to limit our approaches by avoiding public speaking. You need to learn to get through your fears and develop your skills for standing in the front.

Leadership Analogies from Home Car Repair

What leadership lessons can we learn from home car repair?

• It's worth getting the Chilton guide for your car.
• Make sure you have a way to get parts before you disable the car.
• You are going to bang your knuckles loosening a bolt.
• You are going to bang the same knuckle a second time.
• Keep your head to the side and carefully remove the oil plug.
• Don't over-torque bolts.
• Keep a tray for all the small parts as you take something apart.

As usual, you should use your own imagination to fill out the analogies.

Leadership Analogies from Woodworking

Here is the second post in my "analogies" series. What can we learn about leadership from woodworking?

• Measure twice, cut once.
• Sand with the grain of the wood.
• Take time to sharpen your saw.
• Jigs are a big help when making multiples of the same thing.
• Watch your fingers and wear you safety glasses.
• The better joints are harder to make.

Again, I will let you attach meaning to these analogies.

Thoughts on The Apprentice: LA, Episode 11

New lessons have become hard to see in recent episodes. My best advice is to go back and read some of my earlier posts. There is very little new here. This will be my last Apprentice post unless this changes and there is something valuable to add.

Rather than leave you with nothing, there was one interesting new lesson this week. Oddly, it came from the reward. Kinetic's reward for winning the task was a night with a member of their family. No other reward garnered more excitement and emotion from the candidates. This is a good point to remember as we consider the motivations of our work teams.
Lesson: Most people are motivated by time with the people they care about.

Leadership Analogies from Fishing

A good way to learn is to apply analogies from other fields and see where they lead us. For example, what can we learn about leadership from fishing?

• Go to where the fish are.
• Different fish like different bait.
• You need to be patient to catch fish.
• Shh, you'll scare the fish.
• There are lots of lures in your tackle-box.
• You have to clean your own fish.
• You need to be prepared with a container to take fish home in.

I will let you attach meaning to these analogies. [I might just make a series out of this.]

Thoughts on The Apprentice: LA, Episode 10

At the start of the show, Mr. Trump called James at Arrow and asked him to choose someone to go to Kinetic. This was an awkward spot for James, but one that he needs to be able to handle. First, James asked for a volunteer, but got no takers. Compare that to how eager Surya was to move when he had the same chance. This was an opportunity for one of the team members to shine above the others. I'm disappointed that no one took it.
Lesson 1: Take every opportunity to shine - volunteer.

James narrowed it down to Tim and Nicole because he considered their skills similar to his own. Again he looked for a volunteer, got none, and was forced to pick Nicole. She complained, "James must think I'm weak." Later, after her team lost the challenge, Nicole complained that she was upset at Tim for not standing up to keep her on the team. That didn't go well for James or Arrow.

James had alternatives. Asking for a volunteer was great, but when he didn't get one, he could have expressed disappointment and picked someone unilaterally, "Each of you should be jumping at this opportunity. If I need to pick ... I pick Nicole." Explaining his reasons only made the team question them. As it was, Nicole decided he had picked her because he saw her as the weakest member. Another approach was to build up the team with a joint decision making process, possibly a single-elimination rock-paper-scissors tournament.
Lesson 2: Don't apologize for being decisive.
Lesson 3: Look for ways to turn difficult situations into positives.

The task this week was to sell passes to Universal Studios Hollywood using a human-wearable, point-of-sales device called the Adwalker system. Both teams were set up to sell at the same location. During the sales, Arrow commented that Kinetic's girls-on-skates approach was good. As a result, Arrow started using dirty tactics to steal business from Kinetic, including interrupting Kinetic's sales-in-progress to grab customers. Ivanka called them "competitive" and "ruthless," traits that Trump valued as good business. I think that kind of dealing sets a reputation in the long-term that ultimately turns away customers.
Lesson 4: Sometimes all is fair, sometimes it isn't. Consider the difference.

Kinetic lost the task by a large margin. I blame some of it on being less aggressive than Arrow, but there was some amount of failure in not making a comfortable environment for customers to buy from them. Angela was fired as team leader because everyone on her team did good work, nevertheless Kinetic lost. Angela couldn't give a reason to keep her or fire anyone else.
Lesson 5: Always be ready to make a strong case for why you are great.

Advice on Firing People from Donald Trump

People know Donald Trump from his signature "You're Fired!" line on The Apprentice. Trump has a post on his blog about how to approach firing people in real life. Fortunately, his advice bears no resemblance to the television show. Given how many people admire and try to emulate Trump, this is welcome moderation. His advice is good, and much better than emulating a television show.

Thoughts on The Apprentice: LA, Episode 9

The task this week was to create a 45 second web-based soap opera to promote Soft Scrub. Arrow won on the strength of their leader, James, who leveraged the skills of his team. Nicole was a big soap opera fan, and understood the medium. Tim knew how to do the production. James stepped back and let them shine, knowing they were doing a good job. Kristine, the leader of Kinetic, also stepped back, but she did it to avoid a conflict with Muna. Muna wanted to be in front of the camera. Kristine knew that Muna would be hard to direct and hard to understand. She said of herself that she "took the path of least resistance" rather than dealing with the problem she was facing.
Lesson 1: Be willing to stand back and let your team succeed on their strengths.
Lesson 2: Don't avoid your leadership responsibilities because they are difficult.

In the boardroom, the decision came down to firing Muna for being difficult or Kristine for letting Muna be an actor. Both Heidi and Angela had difficulty telling Trump which of the two they would keep on their team. Angela said she would keep Kristine. Heidi nearly got herself fired with her indecisiveness, but also said she would keep Kristine. Muna got fired, but I would have fired Kristine for her unwillingness to manage Muna.
Lesson 3: Be willing to take a stand.

The Game of Go as a Leadership Training Tool

GO is a popular board game in Japan and China akin to chess in complexity. Fans say it is more complex. The rules are simple. Players alternate placing white and black stones on a 19x19 grid trying to surround and control territory. While marking out territory, players also surround their opponent's stones to capture them and remove them from the board.

Note in the first diagram how the black stones are surrounded by the white stones. They won't be completely surrounded though until the "eye" in the middle is filled by a white stone. When white plays a stone in black's eye, white removes the black stones, essentially capturing the territory occupied by black. In practice, black's stones are considered "dead" and left on the board.

Now consider the second diagram where black has two "eyes." In this example, black is considered "alive" since there is no way white can fill in both spots before black would have a chance to remove the newly surrounded white stone. Play alternates until both players agree that there is not territory on the board that is uncontested. The player with the most territory and captured stones wins.

While the rules are simple, how games play out is anything but simple. Each turn presents a choice of strategic placement or tactical attacks on smaller regions. There may be many unresolved battles on the board at the same time, which often turn out to influence each other. Players trade off losses in one are for greater wins in another.

GO is more than a simple metaphor for leadership concepts; it is a way to practice leadership skills. Playing GO gives you an opportunity to exercise many of the skills you need as an effective leader. GO allows you to:

• Practice looking at the big picture
• Practice making trade-offs between strategy and tactics
• Practice seeing how distant elements can impact each other
• Practice trading off a loss for a more important gain
• Practice learning when a tactical position is lost, and move onto something more important
• Practice learning how being less aggressive can give you bigger victories
• Practice stepping out of the task of the moment to look at everything else going on

In real life, opportunities to practice these things come up occasionally, but in GO they happen dozens of times each game. And unlike in life, when you make too many mistakes you just lose the game. Now that's a deal: you can play a game and become a better leader.

Give Sharp Focus to Your Presentations

The first thing speakers ask after finishing a presentation is, "How did that go?" Most people feel uncomfortable making presentations. They sense that they are not connecting with their audience. They are mostly right.

The best tip I give to nervous speakers is to know what you are trying to communicate. Just as companies need mission statements and teams need goals, speakers need a purpose to their presentations. Before you present, figure out what your purpose is. Many presenters share everything they know about a topic, rather than everything their audience needs to know. It is not good enough to say your purpose is to present all the slides in your PowerPoint deck. Typical good purposes are to teach people something, inspire them to do something, or change their opinion about something.

Once you are clear on your purpose, you need to brutally review your presentation against two tests:

• Does my presentation achieve my goals? If not, add what you need to fix it.
• Does anything in my presentation not advance my goals? If so, remove it.

Usually, this results in people greatly reducing the material they are presenting. It is a big change from sharing every bit of information you have about a topic. It always results in a better feeling about how the presentation went.

Thoughts on The Apprentice: LA, Episode 8

Arrow lost this week on the task of promoting GNC at an LA Galaxy soccer game half-time show. This week's lessons are easy; they deserved the loss. They didn't behave as a team. Frank started out the episode saying, "Surya is a phony. I hate him," then he proceeded to mock Surya during the planning phase. The whole team has not supported Surya for a couple of weeks. Someone on the team should have taken the lead to pull Surya aside and address their concerns directly.
Lesson 1: Don't sabotage your own team.
Lesson 2: If you have a problem with your leader, you need to tell them.

Surya has been no better and was fired for it. He never took the leadership role of holding his team accountable for being a team. When team members don't support the team's success, the whole team counts of the leader to fix the problem. In particular, Surya needed to pull Frank and James aside and tell them individually to shape up. Both of them needed to hear that they were off the task if they couldn't support the team.
Lesson 3: You are responsible for unifying your team.
Lesson 4: You have to be direct in dealing with disruptive team members.