Leadership and Mangement -vs- Married with Children

I've often told others that being a good leader or manager is not much different than being a good spouse or parent.  Often those in a position of authority confuse their position power with leadership.  They believe that because they were put in their position, they can just order their subordinates about and they should just follow without questioning.  Well try that with your spouse or your children and see how far that gets you?  If you use fear and intimidation with your spouse your marriage probably won't last; if you use that with your children they'll grow to resent you and become alienated from you.  Let me give you some examples:

Bad leader/manager: "I'm the manager and in a position of authority around here, my subordinates should just do what I tell them without questioning or else heads are going to roll !@#$%!"  Bob you lazy !@#$%^& I thought I told you to have that update on the XYZ project on my desk this morning.  This worthless team is so far behind on the XYZ project; I'm going to fire every !@#$%^ one of them if they don't start making progress!  I think I'll give them all poor reviews this year and no one's getting a raise.  Lazy !@#$%^!  (Management by fear and intimidation)

Bad spouse/parent: "!@#$%^ Jane, I bust my a** all day at work and the least thing you could do is have !@#$% dinner ready when I get home!  Billy I thought I told you to mow the !@#$%^ lawn today; get your lazy a** out there right now and mow that !@#$%^ lawn!  Suzie I thought I told you to clean up around here !@#$%^&; you lazy good-for-nothing !@#$%^!  You're just like your good-for-nothing mother!" (Management by fear and intimidation)

Good Leader/Manager: "I'm so thankful to have a great team to work with; I hope they all had a good evening.  Traffic was a nightmare this morning.  I'm a little hungry, I forgot to eat breakfast.  Bob looks a bit distressed, and he didn't get that update to me this morning like I asked him to.  I should talk with him latter on after I've had a snack and some coffee.  Maybe he's having problems that I'm not aware of?  We're really running behind schedule on the XYZ project, I'll schedule a meeting with my team latter on in order to understand the problems they face.  Maybe the schedule was a bit too aggressive or maybe they're running into some other roadblocks that I can help remove. What can I do today to help my colleagues succeed?"  (Servant Leadership/Management)

Good Spouse/Parent: "I love my spouse and children; I'm so grateful to be able to work and provide for their needs.  Traffic was a nightmare today.  Man I'm so hungry, I didn't have time to eat lunch today.  Billy didn't mow the lawn again like I asked him to; I'll talk with him about it later on after I've had time to relax.  Maybe he has some problems at school.  Jane didn't cook dinner either and Suzie didn't clean up again.  Oh well, I'll just order out for some Chinese and over dinner we'll talk things over.  Maybe they're overwhelmed with problems at school or work.  What can I do today to help my family succeed?" (Servant Leadership/Management)

There are good leaders/managers and good spouses/parents just like there are bad leaders/managers and bad spouses/parents.  Who do you think is more effective in the long-run?  In the short-term using fear and intimidation will get you results, but in the long-run all it gets you is anger, resentment, lower productivity, and ultimately failure.  Treating your subordinates, colleagues, team-mates, spouses, and children with the love, respect, and understanding they deserve will get you admiration, loyalty, higher productivity, and ultimately success.  If you don't believe me, then pay attention to what happens to a dysfunctional/hostile working environment or a dysfunctional/hostile family.  The results are pretty much the same.

What does it mean to give 110%

What does it mean to give 110%
by Bryan J. Neva, Sr.

On jet aircraft the military rates the engines at 80% of their maximum peak power to preserve longevity. It is often referred to as continuous or rated power.  Full military power is actually 110% of the rated power of 80% which is 88% of maximum peak power.  Otherwise they'll run an extremely high risk of damage to the jet engine.

The Army applies this principle of sustained effort to their soldiers as well.  They know they can't push their soldiers at 110% for long periods of time without permanent damage.  Wars can only be sustained with fresh troops.  The candle that burns twice as bright only burns half as long.  Giving 110% has often been misinterpreted as giving more than the maximum when in fact all they are doing is operating at 88% of the maximum peak power. 

When applied to people you should think in terms of a person's sustainable output versus their maximum output.  Maximum output is ALL that a person is capable of producing without regard for how long they can keep it up.  Think of it as a marathon runner as opposed to a sprinter: the marathon runner can run 26 miles at a reasonable pace while the sprinter can only run short distances at a very fast pace.

I once worked for a company that figured out it was cheaper to have their employees consistently work over-time rather than hire more people.  If you work 40 hours in a week, then that comes out to be 2080 working hours in a year.  Now subtract 10 paid holidays a year (80 hours) and 2 to 4 weeks of vacation every year (80 to 160 hours) and your now down to 1920 to 1840 working hours a year.

While working for them, I would typically HAVE TO work close to 3000 hours a year, which came out to be 50 to 60 hours a week.  Sure I earned a lot of money, but eventually I got burned out and my mental and physical health really suffered.  After years of that I finally came to realize that all the money in the world won't do you a bit of good if you don't live to enjoy it.  Eventually, I quit and found a less stressful job.

The lesson here is that good employers are more concerned with the sustainable, long-term efforts of their employees rather than their unsustainable, short-term efforts.  Numerous academic studies have confirmed that any attempt to conistently work more than 40 hours in a week reduces productivity.  If you keep asking your employees to give 110% or more, eventually you'll run the risk of permanent damage just like a jet engine.

The Virtue of Humility

"For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." - Matthew 23:12

If you had perfect humility others could insult you, belittle you, mock you, beat you, and crucify you and it wouldn’t hurt your feelings one bit!  That’s what they did to Jesus Christ.  Few of us will ever learn perfect humility like Jesus, but it’s a virtue well worth striving for that can make a huge difference in your life.

Falling out of favor at work, having a career setback, or losing a well-paying job can be very humiliating experiences.  The mental anguish you and your loved ones experience can cause deep feelings of anger, remorse, anxiety, and depression.  And the stress can be similar to a long-distance move, a death in the family, a bitter divorce, or a diagnosis of cancer.

If you think about, the original sin of our first parents was pride, and to this day pride is still at the root of so many wrongs in our world today.  The remedy for this sin of pride is the virtue of humility!  Humiliation is simply the pain of your pride leaving your soul.  So if you let go of your pride and pretentiousness and embrace humility you’ll be well on your way to mentally bouncing back from the setbacks you encounter in work and in life. 

I once had a friend of mine who early in his working career had quickly risen through the ranks of his company.  He’d come from humble beginnings and was quite proud of his early success.  The only problem was he was absolutely miserable.  He didn’t like the pretentiousness, petty politics, and disingenuousness of the corporate world. 

Eventually his star fell as quickly as it rose and he lost his job.  He moved his family to Tampa, Florida and soon exhausted his savings looking for another job.  Finally he took a job literally digging ditches in order to support his family. 

He told me that through that humbling experience he rediscovered his roots and the dignity of honest hard work.  Much of his pride sweated away during that hot Florida summer, and he’d never been happier in his life.  It wasn’t long before he was promoted from ditch digger to foreman and from foreman to manager.  He'd like to think that God blessed him for embracing the virtue of humility.

Your Work does not define your Human Worth!

Our American culture defines our worth as human beings by Hollywood’s standards: your age, attractiveness, verbal skills, intelligence, education, profession, job, income, net-worth, charisma, etcetera.   The young and beautiful are more valuable than the old and ugly; the living are more valuable than the unborn; the eloquent are more valuable than the inarticulate; smart, educated, white-collar professionals are more valuable than stupid, ignorant, blue-collar workers; those with higher incomes/net-worth are more valuable than those with lower incomes/net-worth; charismatic, extroverted people are more valuable than boring, introverted people.  The list could go on.

All these worldly standards are simply false!  How about adopting God’s standard which defines your human worth as priceless?  The old and ugly are as valuable as the young and attractive; the unborn are as valuable as the living; the stupid and ignorant are as valuable as the smart and educated; blue-collar workers are as valuable as white-collar professionals; lower-income folks are as valuable as higher-income people; the penniless homeless guy is as valuable as the rich powerful man.  Your work and what you have and what you've done does not define your human worth!  In the eyes of God each and every one of us are priceless! 

The world and all its cravings for prestige, power, profit, and pleasure do not last.  But the one who follows God's will lasts forever.

A Boss -vs- A Leader

7 Cardinal Rules in Life

9 Core Beliefs of Truly Horrible Bosses

Here's a really great article contrasting bad versus great management:

http://business.time.com/2013/04/01/9-core-beliefs-of-truly-horrible-bosses/

Here's another great article about extraordinatry managers:

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/8-core-beliefs-of-extraordinary-bosses.html

Homily of Pope Francis at his Installation Mass

Here's the translated text of the Homily of Pope Francis at his Installation Mass on March 19, 3013.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/Pope-Francis-Homily-Prepared-Remarks-198929021.html

Just Got My Second Article Published on a Mainstream Blog

I'm happy to announce that my writing partner, Allen Laudenslager, and I just got our second article published on a mainstream blog.  You can read it by following this link:

http://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/2013/03/how-power-authority-and-obligation-impact-your-leadership-abilities/#more-8155

Here's a link to our first published article:

http://www.thoughtleadersllc.com/2012/04/business-ethics-aint-rocket-science/#more-6995

"It is what it is!"

“It is what it is!” is an often overused cliché in many organizations today.  It basically means that you are unwilling or unable to change things or your circumstances in order to improve the quality or efficiency of your life or work.  But most of the time it’s more because you’re unwilling than you’re unable.  If you speak out against something you believe to be ineffective or just plain wrong you’ll run the risk of repercussions.

For example, you may be frustrated by the roadblocks, bureaucracy, policies, or procedures in your organization and when you complain about them you’re told, “It is what it is!”  You may be stuck in a hopeless, no-win situation such as a bad job or relationship and you say, “It is what it is!”  You see crime and social injustice happening all around you and you say, “It is what it is!”  It’s a victim mentality.

For many years I used to work for a company where management’s solution to every problem (and there were too many to count) was to say, “It is what it is!” For example, I once had a very important customer who spent millions of dollars a year with the company and complained about the unreliability of their equipment; after reporting this to my management, their response was, “It is what it is!”  And when my customer refused to accept their excuses, management’s response was to shoot the messenger (me). Now, when I hear someone use that blasted cliché “It is what it is!” it’s like listening to nails on a chalk board!

Imagine if Jesus of Nazareth said, “The world is lost and going to hell in a hand basket; I better shut-up or they’ll crucify me; it is what it is!”  Imagine is Abraham Lincoln said, “If I keep speaking out against slavery the Southern States will secede from the Union; I better shut-up about slavery; it is what it is!”  Imagine if Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “If I keep speaking out against social injustice and the evils of segregation someone is going to kill me; I’d better shut-up; it is what it is!” 

Our world would be the poorer if great men and woman throughout history didn’t have the courage to speak out against the problems in society.  Working to make the world a better place involves risk and sacrifice.  George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950) wrote, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself; therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man!”  I’m rather found of another great philosopher, Dr. Seuss, who wrote in his bestselling novel The Lorax, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot nothing’s going to get better, it’s not!”