When Jack meets Thomas

This morning, I walked into my office to do a few final tasks before I take my family on a trip (you know the trip: the inaugural "let's take the two month old back home so she can meet her family and see her roots whether she remembers it or not" trip).

I picked up a couple of books, as I always do, to read while on my trip. When I picked up the books, I couldn't help but notice the broadness of context. I picked up Thomas Merton's Contemplative Prayer and Jack Welch's Winning. Wow, talk about polarity.

But then, I had this "tweet" of a thought: "Every leader should have a Thomas Merton book in one hand and a Jack Welch book in the other." Think about it: a good contemplative "inner" masterpiece, and a practical application leadership primer. Now, I am not endorsing that Merton and Welch are solutions and foundational points of reference, but I am saying that every leader should be immersed in something for inner transformation and something for leadership application. That is probably a better "tweet." We all know, what happens on the inside of our spiritual lives gets translated into outward action. I think the marriage of prayer and good leadership is essential.

It seems like a no brainer, but how many of us leaders consistently work on the inner voice along with the outer? It is true, our inner voice is translated into action, whether we realize it or not.

So, today, I prayed this prayer as I contemplated the past ten minutes:

Dear God, help me as I work on this created being, to respond with more of your grace, and less of my emptiness. Help me cultivate my responsibility as a leader in a way that I always seek growth through the lens of your leading. Help me as I glean from the brilliant voices around me, to always recognize you, the true voice of love. Help me as I lead in your world, to always notice where you are, and to always be sensitive that my words can represent your Kingdom.

Amen.

Practical Leadership Notes

I had the privilege to watch Jack Welch talk about leadership last week. I must admit, right now, I can't get enough of this guy. I love what he has to say. Here are my personal, bullet point notes. Keep in mind I typed these fast, there may be some that only I will get b/c of the context. Plus, I thought about just posting some of them and commenting, then I figured, "why limit it, let the readers take what they want." So I posted my full notes, unedited. Maybe you'll find a nugget or something vaulable here : )
Enjoy:

Leaders HAVE to be authentic:

• Be comfortable in your own shoes
• People can see through a phony in a minute
• People can see if you are someone they can count on
• Some people come out of the womb with vests on; be yourself. Don’t be more proper than you really are; don’t be snooty. People hate snooty.
  

Leaders HAVE to have energy

• Anyone can be a whirling dervish, but you have to energize and excite those around you
• If you’re full of energy it doesn't do much for anyone
• But if you can energize those around you about the vision and mission, you win
• It’s my job to energize people about the mission and vision
• Energizing someone is not hyping them, not a cheerleading, but getting them to FEEL where you’re going
• Unless the leader FEELS it, he/she can’t pass it along
• Tell a story and show them how their lives will change others in this journey
• Get them to play act and get their frustrations out
• Ask people WHAT they are getting out of their job
  

On Meetings and Hiring

• Most meetings that are good have engagement...
• The job of the leader is to always raise the intellectual bar of the conversation
• Hire smarter people than yourself
• Insecure people hire dopes
  

Leaders HAVE to emphasize Candor

• Candor enables speed, less bureaucracy, less paperwork

Differentiation

• The top 20% identified
• The 70% vital identified
• The bottom 10% of performers: something has to be done quite quickly
• Establish a culture of differentiating these people, and let them know where they fall
• The kindest thing you can do is tell someone the truth
• You can’t have a differentiated organization without having candor as a value
• Without candor and differentiation, we don’t learn!
• It is all about the appraisal system
• You can’t have an employee that doesn’t know where he/she stands!
• Everyone already knows the differentiation; some of them just hope you don’t know it.
• How you handle differentiation is key.
• Most people try to fix the bottom; that doesn’t work. It wastes time. Give them a soft landing and help them move on.
• You have to transition them, they know they don’t belong!
• Top tier employees: good energy, good values, good people, and a gene that says I love to see people grow (love to give raises, celebrate their people, generosity of spirit). These people hire great people and they don’t have envy.
• A mean spirited person hides good people.
• The middle 70%, the vital 70%, the B’s: isn’t always there in the clutch, is valuable, hard working, not as valuable as others...
• Differentiation isn’t a set in stone mark, but a snapshot.
• Here’s what I like about what you’re doing; here’s what I would like to see you improve.
• Never write a new appraisal, always write on top of the last one. Seeing progression is the best way to gather the snapshots.
• What characterizes a bottom 10% person: not a team player, low energy, acidic (pain in the “arm”), negative energy, they whisper
• Disruptive people and boss haters need to be listened to occasionally; they’re loud
• Nothing is worse than negative energy in an organization; a hallway whisper is deadly
• You have to do everything you can to stop the meeting after the meeting; make the meeting after the meeting an unacceptable event
• Covering candor with “niceness” is a bunch of “nonsense”
• Compensation is different in the differentiation model: top 20% you do all you can to compensate and recognize them
• “Who are YOU to tell me I am in the bottom 10, middle 70” Well, you’re the boss and what you think matters.
• ...there isn’t a better way to build a better team. Biases, revenge, and immaturity is wrong.
• No winning teams ignore differentiation.
• People choose to join your team; no one forced them. The outcomes that come from those choices are reality. Figure out the best way to compensate.
  

Biggest Failure

• Moving slowly: you NEVER wish you moved fast enough...go, act, do it, get out there...
• Fallout happens with every choice, don’t wait for it. You know what fallout you have if you don’t move.
• IF you’re right, you build confidence.
• One of the jobs of a leader is to make everyone else around you confident. Pat people on the back. Criticism breeds hesitancy.
  

Passing the Baton

• Started 8 years before he retired
• Had 22 people in mind to be the successor.
• Dwindled down to 3...they were all long shots in the beginning
• You can’t make a selection in advance...people change. At any one snapshot moment, you may make a different choice than you would in the end.
• You’ll never know how someone will behave in the next role.
  

Celebrations

• The hardest thing you can get to happen is to have managers spend money on celebrations for small victories; it is SO important and energizes the group
• Every budget has slush; celebrate and reward