Is it Fear or Wisdom?

To say there is a lot going on in our world right now is likely the understatement of the year!

I find myself going from big picture, what is happening across the world with Coronavirus, to the minutia of checking my bank account daily to make sure I have the funds I need to pay my staff and business partners.

Thoughts like:

• Will this be over and will folks be back to work by the end of April? If so, I think I have the resources to weather that storm. The fact is, I have more than enough to make it through April, so should I be generous to others who are really struggling. 

• If this current crisis goes through May, my retained earnings should be enough to carry me through, but maybe I should back off my generosity a bit.

• If my business is not as interrupted as others, what should my response be?

• If my business tanks because of Coronavirus, how should I respond?

• Is this an opportunity to launch into some new areas of work I have always thought about but never really had the time to focus on?

I am sure you are evaluating your work, and, for that matter, your personal life as well.  

• Some of you have fallen in love with working from home and are trying to think of ways to approach your boss to lobby for a more permanent home office deal.

• Some of you can’t wait to get back to the socialization of your team; this working from home is driving you crazy.

• Some of you thought your house was maybe too big for the number of people who now live there, only to find your college kids all came home and now you actually could double your square footage and still be cramped.

• Some of you had been thinking about giving up your gym membership to save money only to realize you would now pay double just to go workout with a coach.

• Some of you have learned to order your groceries online and just drive up to have someone load them in your car.

One thing is for sure, Coronavirus will cause many of us to rethink portions of our lives, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

As we rethink our personal and business lives let’s make sure we are doing it with wisdom and not out of fear.

What is it that you are afraid of? If I do not have any retained earnings in my business and if I am not getting any new work, then I should be afraid that my business might not make it. That is legitimate fear. Those are the facts.

How This works with Leaders

When I am coaching clients and we are trying to discern whether something is wise or not we always look at the facts. 

• Not what I emotionally want the facts to be. 

• Not the longing desires of my heart.

• Not what it would take to please the person I am trying to impress.

• Not irrational propaganda or rumors I might have heard.

No! What are the facts?

When I ask the question “What are you afraid of?” I get back answers like:

• I don’t know

• I am not really sure

• That _________ could happen if the stars align exactly right across every galaxy in the universe.

That is when I know we are dealing with a fear or an anxiety that is not going to help us make a wise decision.

As I am thinking about my own business and how I am going make it to the other side of Coronavirus, I am looking at how long I can pay everyone and what kind of new business I can bring in. I am putting those numbers in a spreadsheet, just like I always have, and I am pulling out my journal and I am reflecting on what those numbers are telling me. 

If my fear is an overarching, overwhelming sense that the world is collapsing, that is not helping me. We need to make decisions not on what I emotionally project might happen, but what the facts are telling me. I have developed a flow chart - if this happens, I will do A. If that happens, I will do B. The decision is already made and is informed by the facts of the situation. 

What I am trying to communicate here is if you are trying to discern between fear and wisdom, the facts of the situation are your friend.

Here is a little checklist you can use to discern if your decision is full of wisdom or full of fear. If you use this list you will most always end up with a decision that is much more wise than it is fearful. I used this model years ago when I wrote my dissertation on wisdom and am so thankful for Dr. Vern Ludden who conceptualized it way back in 2009.

• Start with what you THINK the facts are

• Think CRITICALLY about the facts

• How do these facts AUTHENTICALLY align with your character?

• What have been your past EXPERIENCES with these facts?

• As you REFLECT on these experiences, what are the facts telling you?

• Do you have the COURAGE to put the facts into action?

• Have you pressure tested the facts with a larger COMMUNITY of advisors?

• What did the above DELIBERATIONS tell you about the facts?

• As you COLLABORATE with others do you get a positive impression about the facts?

• Some of you who bring SPIRITUALITY into your fact discernment will call upon God to show you direction

Now you are ready to EVALUATE what you THINK the facts are.

Using an informed process like the one I outlined above can help you decide if you are using wisdom in your decision making, or if you are subjecting yourself to irrational fear or anxiety.

I wish you and your family all the best as you navigate this current crisis.

5 Ways to Positively Impact Your Organization’s Culture

There is a lot of conversation in the “blogosphere” these days about the types of cultures leaders can create in organizations. Here are a few examples:

• Learning Culture

• Performance Culture

• Service Culture

• Command & Control Culture

• Customer Centric Culture

• Employee’s First Culture

• Shareholder’s First Culture

Frankly, there are probably thousands of cultures and subcultures that organizations can identify with. Leaders can be left in a state of ambiguity about what is really acceptable in a culture unless organization-wide consensus can be found.

Confusion can lead to inconsistency in strategy implementation or even complete chaos, which can result in paralysis. This fragmentation in organizational culture can leave the strongest subcultures defined by those with the loudest voices, which may not actually be representative of the culture at all.

Perhaps a story can clarify:

Years ago I worked at an organization that had a cultural norm of “respect for people." This norm was carried out in a lot of very positive ways throughout the organization, such as caring and compassion with a death in an employee's family, paternity and maternity leaves, even pay based on performance was weaved into this respectful culture.

In one department, there swooped in a leader who had an agenda. A change in performance standards would take place but only a select few favorites would be told of these new rules in the culture. Low performance ratings were given to people who had traditionally been top performers. The organization became chaotic and fragmented as no one knew what the cultural norms were in order to perform at high levels. All anyone knew was to "please the leader or you are out."

Fast forward 6 months and the entire department had been decimated. The leader had to be replaced. What was once a high performing organization had been completely and utterly destroyed by the actions of one person. One really loud voice was able to take down an entire team, exiting many top performers from the company in the process.

The culture you define as an organizational leader impacts the development of your team members. If they don't feel safe, they definitely won't feel valued as a team member. And if they don't feel valued, then they won't be motivated. When you have unmotivated team members you run the risk of losing them or leaving untapped potential on the table.

So, how do you create a culture that allows your newest team members to feel safe as well as your current colleagues to be motivated? Perhaps it's not something that you DO, but instead what you can BE.

Focus on developing your emotional intelligence. This effort on your part will impact the culture you want to create. As you create this positive culture, the desired behaviors will become part of who you are and not just something that you do occasionally. Think deeply about the kind of culture you are shaping as you lead your team.

Here are 5 things you can become that will positively impact the culture of your organization to give you great results:

Be Self Aware Know and be confident in yourself and your abilities. Understand how you handle your emotions, and how they impress your company. Everyone is watching you to see how you will react. In fact, they may be able to predict your behaviors. Become just as aware of yourself and how you can choose your emotional responses.

Be Assertive Communicate your what, how, and why in a simple, clear, and even repetitive way so that your team understands.

Be Empathetic When I teach seminars on Emotional Intelligence, I often ask the group for a common definition for empathy. The response I get back more than any other is “walking a mile in the other person’s shoes.” I love this definition, but to take it one step further (pun intended), “walking a mile in the other person’s shoes, even when the shoe doesn’t fit." Being empathetic is about being compassionate, caring, listening, and being flexible as needed. I believe strongly that we should not neglect the impact empathy has on shaping the culture of your company. Showing regular empathy will instantly invoke safety and value for your teammates.

Be in Control Not wavering, or changing things based on emotional reactions. When something comes up that invokes an emotional response, remind yourself of the companies mission, and your principles, to be sure that the decisions being made align with your mission. This way your team can feel confident that you won't make changes at the drop of a hat. As they trust you, they can focus on the work they need to do.

Be Optimistic People who are positive are magnetic. We want to be around them and we can be inspired by them. In order to be optimistic, you have to change the way you talk to yourself. What I mean by that is being able to see the best in yourself, see setbacks as learning opportunities, and see obstacles as unique, temporary events that you'll get through. Learn more about this by downloading my eBook, Optimistic Thinking.

Homework

Think about the 5 "Be's" above. Choose one you would want to work on.

To help organize your thoughts, grab a piece of paper, then write and complete the following sentence:

I want to be more ______________, so that my team can feel ______________ and we'll create a culture that is ___________________.

Here are three ways I will be more ____________ this week: 1. 2. 3.

Share what you wrote with a mentor or coach and have them help you with this development. If you can't think of who to share this with, write it in our comments below or contact me directly. I'd love to hear what you have to say and find out how we can help you!

This IS More Important Than Any 2016 Goal You May Have

Over the past few weeks, I have thrown myself into the goal setting literature. My goal in this quest was to find something pithy and interesting to spur you on as you set your 2016 goals. I wanted to share with you something that you might not read anywhere else, such as:

• How to envision your goals and make them SMART.

• How to set up accountability for successful goal achievement.

• How to celebrate goal achievement, or correct your course if you are falling short on a goal.

Businessman writing Idea 2016 concept. Can use for your business concept background.

Alas, while you can find lots of support in the leadership literature for all of the above, each time I began to write something I felt it had already been written. I was a bit discouraged about what I was going to share with you on this subject.

However, this morning I was reading an article in the WallStreet Journal by Ben Summers who teaches at West Point. Ben was illustrating his point using the example of how the United States treats enemy combatants who are captured. He compared this strategy to how, throughout history, our enemies have treated us.

In the article, he states, “Character is often measured in how we react when our values are most tested." (Summers, Ben. December 29, 2015. WallStreet Journal electronic version.)

It hit me. Perhaps it is not what we write as a goal, but how we implement it as a leader that matters. This is so true of every leader, regardless of organizational role. It is true for:

• The CEO and the mail clerk in an organization

• The pastor and the janitor in a church

• The Vice President of Sales and the Manager of Operations

• The university president and the adjunct professor

• The store manager and the night security

We will all set some sort of goal in 2016. Even if we don’t write them down (which the literature says you should do), we will be thinking of what we want to accomplish this year.

Character Matters

Could it be that more important than the commitments we make is the character we show in implementing our goals? It is not only the what we are doing, but how we are accomplishing our goals that matters.

This morning I was doing some meditation. When I meditate, I will often use the Bible as a source of inspiration. I was reading from Psalm 15, the first 5 verses. In this reflection, the writer of these verses gives an interesting list of character traits for leaders to measure themselves against. Traits such as:

• Integrity: Do what is right and speak the truth.

• Loyalty: Treat others with respect and fairness.

• Self-awareness: Hold fast to what is right; Be willing to admit wrong and make changes.

How Will You Implement

What an interesting list of character traits for us to compare ourselves to in 2016!

By now, many of you have already set some goals and some stretch goals. Good for you! The question is, will you implement them with integrity?

Will you implement them without talking poorly of someone else to make yourself look good? Will you implement them with self-awareness, even if you have to say you were wrong? Will you implement your goals while not sacrificing what you know is the right thing to do? Can you muster the courage to speak the truth even when it goes against popular consensus?

Perhaps as we review goals with our supervisors and accountability partners in 2016, we can talk not only about “the what" we hope to accomplish, but also “the how” we will go about it.

My hope for you as a leader is that you will set some really outstanding goals for 2016 and that you will implement them with character, principle, and integrity!

A Challenge

Here is a challenge for you! What if when you die, you face God. And God is not as interested in “what" you did on earth but “how" you did it? Would you do anything differently in your strategy for implementing your 2016 goals?

Homework: Spend some time reviewing your 2016 goals and considering "how" you will accomplish them. Write them down if you have not already done so.  Share your ideas with a friend or colleague and ask them to hold you accountable to implementing your goals with character, principle, and integrity this year.

If you take the homework challenge this week, or even sometime this month as you are starting your year, I would love to hear from you. Drop a comment below or send me an email and let me know!