Franklin and Madison: Founding Brothers Leadership Lesson

This paragraph paints a picture that reminds me of a key value of teamwork. It is from Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis, page 113. The value of teamwork comes not from like-minded people working together; it comes from different people leveraging their complementary strengths.

If Franklin's great gift was an uncanny knack for levitating above political camps, operating at an altitude that permitted him to view the essential patterns and then comment with great irony and wit on the behavior of those groveling about on the ground, Madison's specialty was just the opposite. He lived in the details and worked his magic in the context of the moment, mobilizing those forces on the ground more adroitly and with a more deft tactical proficiency than anyone else. Taken together, he and Franklin would have made a nearly unbeatable team. But in 1790, they were on different sides.

So, as a leader, seek your opposite and value the strength you can bring to each other.

CBS's Undercover Boss a Good Case Study

I watched CBS's Undercover Boss last night. I'd recommend it as a thought-provoking case study in understanding your business. The first episode showed Larry O'Donnell, President and COO of Waste Management taking on line jobs such as sorting trash at a recycling center, cleaning portable toilets and collecting residential trash.

Let me not spoil the show for you. I'll just say, he gains insight into how upper management policies impact the real people doing the work. While much of this show may be contrived, the simple idea of understanding the day-to-day work of your teams can have great value to your success as a leader.

Disney Turns a Problem into an Asset

I've written about Disney's customer service leadership in the past. Today I saw a post on the DisneyParks blog about short video games being added to the Space Mountain line. When people think of the worst aspects of theme parts, long lines are near the top of the list. When I go to a Disney park, I find myself disappointed when the lines are too short. There is always so much to see in the line that I can't just rush through the experience.

Disney is so focused on the customer experience that they spend money on making the lines more enjoyable. They take leadership in satisfying their customers. That builds a loyal customer base. That's good for business. Consider the worst aspect of your business, and how you could turn it into an asset.

Crate&Barrel Responds to Product Feedback

I saw a coffee mug at Crate&Barrel on-line that I liked but noticed the review feedback was poor. Negative feedback on a mug struck me as odd, so I took a look. Apparently the glaze would crack in hot water. So, as long as you didn't drink coffee out of it, this was a great coffee mug.

Fortunately, Crate&Barrel added this note:

Good news. We are pleased to report that after listening to your Crate and Barrel review comments for the Latte Mug, we have worked to improve its quality and are now shipping a new better mug. If you have the original Latte Mug and would like to talk to us, please call 800.967.6696. Thank you for taking the time to write a product review. We read each and every one to help us make our products and services the best they can be. Your feedback is important…and appreciated.

Like many companies on-line, Crate&Barrel lets customers leave feedback, even negative feedback. That takes some leadership courage. And Crate&Barrel took the extra step of fixing the problem and responding to the feedback. Leadership in business means building customer satisfaction and maintaining the company's reputation for quality, not just taking the customer's money.

Simple Employee Messages

While GM and Chrysler struggle to succeed despite $17 billion in government bailouts, Ford stands out for building success without putting its hand out. Ford claims it started this process by recognizing the industry problems back in 2006 and acting before the crisis.

In 2006, then-CEO William Clay Ford, Jr. recognized his inability to restructure the struggling business. He took the bold act of replacing himself. He brought in Alan Mulally, who had succeeded in restructuring Boeing through its troubles. I imagine that board members "helped" William Ford with his decision, but Ford was able to act on it where other CEOs fight to the death of their companies.

I'm a strong believer in the value of leaders presenting simple messages to their teams. One of the turnaround techniques that Ford is now using is to spread its simple message in a plastic card that employees carry with their badges.

Many people find such things to be silly management techniques. I see them as powerful leadership tools for focusing the team on a simple goal. In each employee that mocks such efforts, you will find an employee who understands the message on the card. They play another valuable role in solidifying the message: They are the first to call out their leaders when they don't act toward the stated goals. Even such mocking acts can serve the goal by acting as a conscience to keep the leaders on track.

As a leader, you could take your first lesson from Ford by having a simple goal for your teams. Your second lesson from Ford is to not be shy about sharing it until your team thinks you are being silly. Here's wishing success to Ford.

Why Samoan Survivors Follow thier Leaders

Last night I watched the first episode of Survivor Samoa. The participants broke into two tribes and their first task was to pick a leader for each tribe. They elected leaders with a simple ballot, with the highest vote-getter becoming the tribe leader. At this point in the game, they only had visual first impressions to go on. Up to that point, they were not allowed to talk to each other.

I found it interesting that throughout the rest of the episode, each tribe was happy to take direction from their simply-picked leader. The leader had done nothing to deserve the role, but yet the tribe followed them.

So, what can we learn from this. It would be simple to dismiss this willingness to follow as a tactic for staying under the radar in the game. That probably is part of the dynamic. In my experience, I see people relieved not to have to take on the leadership role. Most people are happy to follow anyone who is willing to take the role, so long as they don't abuse the role.

One good example is when a bunch of friends are planning to go out to dinner together. One person says, "Where should we go," and there is silence. What is that silence? It is a pause while everyone avoids the risk of being the leader in that decision. I know that whatever the first person suggests, someone in the group will shoot down. But, most people would rather just follow the leader's choice. After all, the restaurant is not the important part; going out together is.

I think the Samoan Survivors were willing to follow their leaders because someone was willing to be the leader. You might assume that your teams are willing to follow you until you deserve that they shouldn't. Don't be afraid to take the lead. People will appreciate your willingness, even if they don't say so.

Swine Flu Reactions are an Abundance of Caution

In watching all the news about Swine Flu, the new catch phrase has become "an abundance of caution." Apparently this is a way to say, "Yes we know we are overreacting, but you can't be too careful when it comes to the little children." We have first hand experience because our own daughter and some friends were sent home from school with flu-like symptoms.

The school administration insisted that they be tested for Swine Flu before coming back. The doctor insisted that they didn't have symptoms to warrant testing, and could go back to school. The doctor's office even called the school to try to calm them down, but to no effect. So here we are with an abundance of caution, asking the doctor to run a wasteful test so our kids can go back to school.

It does seem reasonable to take every precaution to protect the health of our kids, but is it? It is important to keep in mind that every action has a cost. In this case the cost of action is kids missing school, parents missing work, and unnecessary health care. Especially in a time of crisis, our doctors and labs should be focused on the hard work of stopping a pandemic and quickly evaluating truly at-risk people, rather than wasting time assuaging a panic.

In your teams, consider the cost of your risk mitigation actions. It's better to live with some risks than to spend the full cost of an abundance of caution.

Diplomacy is Fun Leadership Training

I just got back from chaperoning a high school trip to Costa Rica. While there, some of the kids put together a make-shift Diplomacy game out of a pizza box top. Playing gave the kids and me fun lessons in leadership and negotiation.

The rules of the game are very simple, but playing well requires players to negotiate alliances. Everyone has to figure out whom to trust and who will stab them in the back.

The simple approach is to make promises to several people and surprise one by breaking your word and attacking them.  Too many lies and no one will work with you, then you lose. I was pleased that our team was able to do very well and never told a lie during a negotiation. I was reminded in this short exercise how effective truth can be in building good relationships. We told the truth even if it was only, "It's not in our interest to support you right now."

I'd recommend trying the game as a fun way to practice negotiation and to try out different approaches to working with people. Its a safe way to see what works best for you.

Richard Anderson on Leadership

Saturday's New York Times has an interview with Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Airlines, on his leadership approach.  I liked his answer to what his most important leadership lesson was, "I've learned to be patient and not lose my temper. And the reason that’s important is everything you do is an example ... when you lose your temper, it really squelches debate and sends the wrong signal about how you want your organization to run."

I have to agree.  If as a leader you really want to squelch debate, just come out and squelch it.  "Okay, that's enough debate" can work just fine.   There is no need to kill ideas accidentally.

The interview is worth a read.

How to Read a Project Stoplight Report

A project stoplight report is a simple, visual way to show the status of projects.  Green shows the project is good, yellow shows it is in danger, and red shows it as in trouble.  Unfortunately, that doesn't help much beyond giving a summary.  Managers often ask for these reports as a simple way to understand the status of portfolios of projects, and focus on the red and yellow areas.

Project leaders, though, understand that a yellow or red indicator could be taken as showing weakness in their own project leadership skills.  In this case, the project leader is inclined to show a troubled project as green and hope they can fix any problems before they are noticed.  There is also a dynamic that red and yellow projects require more work from the project manager to explain what is going wrong and to do extra tasks to fix the problems.  When the project is already in trouble, this extra work is the last thing the project leader needs.  This is another reason to shade projects toward green.

Instead of this, managers could set the meaning of green, yellow and red differently, such that they get more value from the stoplight report.  I suggest that green can mean, "The project is going well, we don't need help from management."  Yellow can mean, "We are starting to worry about some aspects of the project and want some advice from management about how do proceed."  For yellow projects, the project leader should give options to the management team for a decision rather than just present the problems.  Then red can mean, "This project is in trouble and needs action from management to fix it."  In most cases, red projects should have been escalated to management as soon as they turned red, so if they are still red at the project review, that should mean that the project leader has yet to receive the support they needed from the managers on the project.  Red becomes a reminder to the management team that the project needs their help.

With a better use of the project stoplight report, management reviews can become a useful working session rather than a tedious meeting of blame passing.

Tips for Speakers from James Duncan Davidson

I consider comfort with public speaking to be an important leadership skill. Leaders can not avoid being in front of groups, and they should strive to look comfortable there. Note that I didn't say they have to feel comfortable.

James Duncan Davidson is a photographer who has spent a lot of time photographing speakers, most notably for O'Reilly Media conferences. Being forced to watch both good and bad speakers has given him some insights into what works. I particularly liked this one: "Don't pace aimlessly. ... From the audience perspective, a speaker like this looks like a caged animal."

In public speaking, practice helps, but I've found that careful consideration of what works for others has been more help to me. James' article is well worth a read to help you avoid common mistakes.

Chick-fil-A Is Closed On Sunday

Seldom do we see corporate America stand behind a principle.  Chick-fil-A is a noteworthy exception.  The founder, chairman and CEO, Truett Cathy (that's him on the sign), built the business around five principles including "Closed on Sundays:"

1. Climb with Care and Confidence
2. Create a "Loyalty Effect"
3. Never Lose a Customer
4. Put Principles and People Ahead of Profits
5. Closed on Sundays

In spite of, or more likely due to these principles, Chick-fil-A boasts 2007 sales of $2.64 billion and 40 consecutive years of sales increases.  With such outward demonstration of principled leadership, it has build both staff- and customer-loyalty.  On one visit to our local mall we met a couple dressed as cows as part of a promotion to get a free meal.  A free fast food meal is not worth such effort, if you don't also love the company.

Look to Truett Cathy and Chick-fil-A for an example of how valuable treating your team and customers can be.

Leadership Lessons from Lean Manufacturing

I have been learning more about Lean Manufacturing at work and was introduced to the booklet The Toyota Way as part of the training. The booklet describes the 14 principles of the Toyota Production System also known as Just In Time Production. This corporate philosophy may be a key reason for the success of Toyota.

In looking at the 14 principles, I was struck by how many of them were focused around good leadership. The very first principle, "Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals," emphasizes the importance of having and following a strong vision. Building a strong vision is the first principle of a good leadership approach.

I am always amazed at what I find when I look for lessons outside my normal scope. Take some time to learn some leadership lessons in the 14 Principles of the Toyota Production System.

Positive Experience with BoltBus

Yesterday I dropped someone off to take the BoltBus from Boston to New York City. The experience was outstanding, and far beyond my expectation for the price. The ticket taker at the gate was extremely friendly and helpful. He chatted with folks in line, efficiently processing new people as they arrived. All the while he answered questions he must hear a dozen times each day, just as pleasant as can be. He mentioned that he was happy he had such a great job, and it was clear that he was sincere.

I think you can tell how good a company is by how much their people like working for them. Despite having a job most people would hate, the BoltBus ticket taker loves his job. You should be able to say the same for all the people on your teams, no matter how unglamorous their job is.

BoltBus is also a marvel of disruptive business models. When I think of modes of travel, taking the bus falls right at the bottom. The ride is uncomfortable; the trip is long; and the companionship is questionable. BoltBus has overcome all three of these issues, while delivering service at half the price of other modes of travel.

BoltBus has found a niche of providing frequent service between just a few hub cities. For $20 they take you from the center of Boston to the center of New York. They fill the bus by creating a sense of scarcity, offering cheaper prices for earlier booking. The first ticket on every bus is only $1.  And they attract the younger crowd with great prices and free Internet access.

Compare the BoltBus to its parents Greyhound and PeterPan. Greyhound offers the same trip at $37. PeterPan charges $35, but they do have special on-line pricing similar to BoltBus.  The same trip on Amtrak starts at $89.  And the cheapest airfare is $152 round-trip on American Airlines.  It's unclear why anyone would take a plane from Boston to New York.  Getting to and from the airports into the cities, plus pre-boarding time for security makes the trip longer.  It's certainly more expensive, and on such a short flight there are no amenities to make it worth it.

BoltBus is worth watching for its business model, but equally worth watching for the culture that makes its staff so happy to work there.

Nordstrom Takes a Stand on Christmas Decorations

Every year my wife and I comment on how early stores deck the halls for Christmas. I grant that they are trying to maximize profit, which is completely appropriate. Yet there must be a more graceful way. Some stores ease into the spirit with white lights and green garland, which seems like a good compromise. I love how Nordstrom has taken a stand on this issue.

They attack the issue head on, getting extra credit for purposely bucking the crowd. I hope that taking this leadership position is an equally successful way to capture more of my money. I enjoy Christmas too much to have it cheapened a little more each year.

Unintended Consequences of Use-It-or-Lose-It Budgeting

A caller to a radio talk show shared a story from when he was in the U.S. Air Force. The unit had a fuel budget that they had underspent for the year. They had a use-it-or-lose-it budgeting system. It's a reasonable idea that the budget for next year should be related to the actual spending from the current year.

As frequently happens, fear of scarcity overrides common sense. Instead of losing their fuel budget for the next year, the caller shared, the jets fueled up, flew over the ocean and returned fifteen minutes later to refuel for additional trips.

Although I hope this is an apocryphal story, its plausibility reminds us that even decent ideas can have unintended consequences. We need to keep normal human reactions in mind as an important part of the evaluation of otherwise good ideas.

Organizing Papers as a Sign of Checking Out of a Meeting

One sure sign that someone has given up hope on the success of a meeting is the paper-organizing move. Let me describe it. It starts with the participant making a final, impassioned plea on some position. This plea doesn't get the response hoped for.

Now our meeting participant does the paper-organizing move:

• He turns his body away from the speaker to his pile of papers and notebooks.
• He slowly and deliberately organizes them into a neat pile.
• Then sets the pile on the table, positioned ever so slightly toward the door.
• Clasping his hands together he sits back in his chair, nearly at attention, as if his full focus were on the current speaker.

The paper-organizing move happens too frequently in meetings. It's meaning is clear: it shows that our meeting participant has lost hope in getting what he wants out of the meeting, and he has checked out. Not that all meeting have to end with everyone happy, but I'd call this an unsatisfactory ending. When a meeting has reached this point, it is frequently too late for the leader to do anything to fix it on the spot. Hopefully, though, recognizing the paper-organizing move gives you an opportunity to deal with the issues that caused it.

Senators Show Poor Leadership in Bailout Bill

US Senators showed the poorest of leadership today by taking advantage of a national crisis. Senators have amended the text of the senate bailout bill, officially titled the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008," with unrelated acts and special tax incentives.

This is the worst kind of abuse of the leadership we have invested them with, and they should be ashamed. As their constituents worry anxiously about the value of their 401K retirement plans, homes, and talk of depression, their Senators took time to augment the bill with administrative housecleaning and pet projects that might otherwise be difficult to pass. Knowing the importance of the bill at hand, they hide in the shadows of urgency and depths of 451 pages of text to sneak their special interests into law. Notably, the main part of the Act, Division A, ends on page 113, leaving 338 pages of additions including Division B, the ‘‘Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008’’ and Division C, the ‘‘Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008’’ starting on page 261.

Division A, Section 2 of the Act reads:

The purposes of this Act are— (1) to immediately provide authority and facilities that the Secretary of the Treasury can use to restore liquidity and stability to the financial system of the United States; and (2) to ensure that such authority and such facilities are used in a manner that— (A) protects home values, college funds, retirement accounts, and life savings; (B) preserves home ownership and promotes jobs and economic growth; (C) maximizes overall returns to the tax payers of the United States; and (D) provides public accountability for the exercise of such authority.

Given the last line of the act's purpose, the Senators understand the need for accountability in the exercise of authority. They simply can't show personal leadership in their own use of authority. Here are some items from Division C that they should be publicly accountable for:

• Section 308 (Page 279) is a two year extension to an excise tax "cover over" for rum from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
• Section 317 (Page 290) is a two year extension to support "Motorsports Racing Tracks" having a seven year cost recovery period.
• Section 325 (Page 295) is a five year extension to special tax incentives for the wool industry.
• Section 503 (Page 300) gives excise tax exemption to kid's toy wooden arrows. You could put an eye out with them, but the Senate wants to give them a special tax exemption.
• Section 511 and 512 (Page 310) has the distinction of being the only bill that has names associated with it, the ‘‘Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008’’. Apparently their pride overcame their shame.

From a leadership perspective, I look at it like this: In the middle of a raging fire, the fire chief calls his team together to talk about whether they will serve steak or lobster at the station's summer family picnic. Some might argue that it is a reasonable discussion to have, but this is neither the time nor is it respectful of the seriousness of the situation. Someone in the Senate should show leadership and call this out as wrong. We should all expect better of our Senators.

New England Patriots: Win or Be Hated

Our New England Patriots lost this weekend for the first time in 22 regular season games. Some of the fans booed them at the end of the game. Imagine if you were booed for results like that at work: 21 on-time releases followed by one late release would get you yelled at by your boss, or only getting 21 sales out of 22 sales calls would miss your sales quota.

Unfortunately, I suspect the Patriots aren't the only people who need a perfect record to keep their fans happy. You should celebrate your team's winning record instead of focusing on their most recent failure.

Perfect is the Enemy of Done

Voltaire wrote "Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien," frequently translated as "The perfect is the enemy of the good." My youngest daughter would laugh at me if I tried to say that in French. Instead, I'll share my leadership variant on Voltaire:

Perfect is the Enemy of Done

This quote comes in handy too often to remind people that we don't get any value from their perfect work until we deliver it.