Category: Leadership

Birds of a Feather

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

birds

Growing up my parents taught me the concept of “birds of a feather.” Seems that people tend to think of you relative to the company you keep. Hang with kids that are constantly in trouble and you too will be tagged or labeled as a trouble-maker even if you weren’t involved in the trouble caused. Befriend the kids with the brains and before you know it you could be viewed as one of the class geeks. Right, wrong, or indifferent the truth is that birds of a feather do flock together. And if that’s the case it may be time to take inventory of those you choose to surround yourself with.

A couple of years ago I attended a high school commencement ceremony. The principal of the school gave one of the most eloquent speeches I have heard. Perhaps it’s my age, perhaps it’s the benefit of life experience, regardless, I was jolted by a comment he made at the end of his speech. He said, and I quote, “If you’re in a room, and you’re the smartest person in that room, then you’re in the wrong room.” What am amazing insightful comment. Think about it.

We all need to be encouraged every now and then. To feel challenged. To be pushed, prodded, and sometimes forced to do things we don’t want to do in order to develop and improve. And if you believe that improvement comes from working or practicing with others that are not as good as you but better than you’ve just validated the birds-of-a-feather belief. Sure you can learn things from people who are not as skilled as you or as experienced as you. I learn things everyday from my children that amaze me. But relative to improving your craft, your career, you need to work with others who KNOW MORE than you, have DONE MORE than you, and are currently DOING MORE than you in order to help you improve.

Building a valuable network is the most critical element of success for growing leaders. Of course you could say an individual’s ability to learn is more important that having a network, or integrity, or sense of humor, but those are innate characteristics, your network is an external element that is needed to compliment your innate skills and abilities. Some of the most well-known, effective leaders achieved their accomplishments with the assistance of others in their network. Think FDR and Churchill, or Reagan and Thatcher, or W. and Blair. If you’re a sports fan think Walsh and Montana, or Jackson and Jordan. No matter what the profession, the true professionals understand that they NEED to pull from many other sources to help improve their results. So do you.

I’ll be blogging later this week on best practices in developing a high-value, high-performing network.

A Few Thoughts On Change

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

Change

I recently had an interaction with a group of folks embarking on a new change.  Like most recipients of change there was hesitation and apprehension. Normal emotions that typically accompany change. When we are faced with change it’s human nature to question, doubt, fear, and distrust the impending change. First reactions are often negative with a sense of “OMG what now!”.

Years ago I had a boss teach me a method for adapting to change. I have used this technique several times and have found it to be calming, enlightening, and in many cases beneficial in helping me adapt to the change I was facing. It all starts with changing your paradigm on change.

Life’s biggest change-fests include getting a new job, a new boss, having a new child, getting married for the first time (and hopefully the only time), starting a new school, making new friends, or working with a new agency partner. All these changes bring a level of stress that includes many of the emotions I listed above. One way to eliminate those butterflies in your stomach when facing change is by asking yourself one question. Resist the urge to predict the future this change will create and ask yourself one simple question: What good will this change bring me?

A new job can bring new and exciting experiences. A new boss can provide new insights, coaching, development, and opportunities. Changing to a new school opens the doors to new friends, programs, activities. Getting married provides stability, support, love, and a safe place to land when you need one. All changes bring opportunities. Unfortunately, and most likely due to past experiences, we tend to immediately go to the negative when it comes to how we perceive change.

Remember this. Nothing improves without changing something. Tide, Crest, Cadillac, Apple, Wegmans, Nordstrom are all companies that continue to innovate and change, and it’s in these changes that these companies prosper and flourish. The same is true with people. Phil Mickelson changes his approach and improves his golf game. Peyton Manning changes his training routine and improves his passing efficiency. No matter what the case, change has to occur before things can get better. So next time you’re faced with a change don’t panic. Just ask yourself, “how will this change benefit me”. Not will it benefit but how. Assume it’s for the good and it will be.

The focus is YOU!

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

You

Stop listening to all those who tell you it can’t be done, you’re too old, you’re not strong enough, smart enough, talented enough, or good-looking enough. Cut your ties with those who always seem to be holding you down for your “own good”. Their approach is littered with falsities all in the name of protecting you or not wanting to see you get hurt.

Be selfish. Be bold. Take a stand. There is more in life that we can control than we think. You can’t change how tall you are so don’t waste any energy wishing you were taller. Focus on the things you can change; your intellect, your strength, your talents, attitude, and your appearance are all within your control. No you can’t be 18 again, so stop worrying about it or wishing you could change it. Embrace exactly where you are today. If there is a part of today you don’t like – your job, the scale, your living conditions – change it.

The focus is on you. No one else. The saying, “you’ve got to love yourself before you can love others” is so true. If YOU are not important enough to change for YOU, then who is? Everything starts from within. Sure there can be external factors that motivate but if your changes are based on those factors rather than what’s inside they simply won’t stick.

Take charge. What if you don’t have the skills to get a new job? Read. Find as many books as you can on the subjects you want to improve on and read, read, and read some more. Sure it takes time, but how badly do you want what you’re so desperately missing? What if you’ve tried to lose weight and haven’t been able to? Look at what you’ve done and determine where the gaps are. What did your diet consist of? How often did you exercise? Everything from food to caffeine, and exercise to sleep, affect weight gain and loss. Dig in, be honest, make a pledge and then grade yourself, daily.

Most importantly stay close to those who provide positive influence and thoughts. The world is filled with naysayers and doomsday thinkers. These people are easy to identify as they use words like “can’t”, “never”, “be careful”, “watch out”, “tough”, “impossible”, “it won’t work”, and “we tried it before”. Find those that say “go for it”, “you can do it”, “study hard”, “work at it”, “keep plugging away”. Anything in life worth doing is worth doing well, and the best things in life are always the toughest things to do. Don’t settle. Be tough.

Just Enough

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

headdown

We’re taught to be right at all costs. Not to make mistakes. We learn at an early age that failing is the mother of all curses in life. If we do fail the voice in our head tells us we didn’t plan enough, think enough, study enough, or work hard enough. And so begins our journey toward the ever-popular destination called “Just Enough”.

We do just enough to get by. Just enough to not be too visible. Just enough to not stand out. We focus on doing just enough work to keep our jobs, get that standard raise, and maybe, just maybe, retire with free healthcare for life. (Oops, didn’t plan on ObamaCare).

But doing just enough carries a huge risk. The pace of change today is faster than the speed of light. Seth Godin, author of The Icarus Deception writes about the infinite connections now created through the Internet that he refers to as the “connection economy”. The connection economy is where every human is capable of connecting with another for any reason, without needing any money, for any cause. This connected economy provides us all with an even playing field as we all have the ability to stand out, speak up, and make our unique thoughts known. The question is, are you taking advantage of this newly created connection economy or are you doing just enough?

For years I worried about being right. Getting it right. Making the right decisions. Doing the right thing. My journey has been filled with ups and downs like many others. But recently I have come to understand that it’s less about getting it right and more about being sure.

You see, often times in our lives it’s impossible to get it right because we simply don’t know what is right. Should you submit the report that shows your division’s poor results to your boss? Should you take a new opportunity offered to you or stay where you are and play it safe? Should you go to that big-name school or stick with the smaller college no one has heard of?

The point is, doing what you’re sure of, will often times result in better outcomes for you. Being sure of something means that it feels right rather than is right. Being sure of something carries an emotional connection to making it right.

If Steve Jobs worried about being right he most likely wouldn’t have invented and introduced the iPod in 2001. But he was sure it would be a hit. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook wasn’t worried about getting it right. He was sure that Facebook was needed and would become THE way people communicated with one another. Or how about Redbox, the dvd rental kiosk company. Started in 2002 as a joint venture with McDonald’s, Redbox looked at the changing market for home entertainment, listened to what customers wanted (cheap movie rentals) and innovated. They were sure first…and ultimately got it right.

Think about the important decisions in your life. Make time for yourself when you can be alone and ask yourself that all-important question…“what am I sure about?” You may be surprised by your own answer.

3 C’s of Innovation

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

innovate

The late Steve Jobs said “innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower”. While certainly a simple statement, Jobs struck the core of what makes innovation work…the leader. But it’s not the leader who is innovating yet instead creating and leading the culture of innovation that exists within the business. If a company is not innovating then a quick look at the leader will spotlight the reasons why.

A recent article appearing in Forbes magazine showcased the differences between companies on the “cutting edge” versus those that were surviving or just getting by. In every case reviewed, it boiled down to the leader. It was the leader that fostered a culture of innovation. The leader encouraged, and in many cases pushed, their teams to innovate…to stretch the boundaries. The leader’s ability to effectively instill this type of culture depends on 3 C’s: Collaboration, Courage, and Confidence.

Leaders of innovative companies possess a strong collaboration trait. They understand that developing the winning recipe requires several minds working together – not just their own. While perhaps one of the most brilliant innovators ever, Steve Jobs understood that he still needed his engineers, marketers, and other stakeholders to bring his dream to life. The same can be said of other great innovation leaders from Scott Cook of Intuit, to Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Fred Smith of FedX. All of these leaders knew that to bring their vision, idea, and dream to life required input from other people to refine and build their idea.  That’s collaboration.

Courage is another characteristic of strong innovative leaders. It takes courage to think and act differently. We can all dream big dreams. Many companies are developing their BHAGs – Big Hairy Audacious Goals – but few will be able to realize them. The challenge with achieving your BHAG is the tremendous amount of courage required to move toward fulfillment. Somewhere in grade school we begin to lose our ability to dream, and worse our belief that anything is possible. While in school we get put into boxes, and typecast, creating our first experience with the concept of “settling”. We begin to believe in ceilings. There is a cap to how far we can go, how much we can do, and big we can dream. Great innovative leaders have the courage to be bold and tackle their BHAGs head on.

The final trait required of all great innovators is confidence. Strong, effective, successful leaders with proven innovation track records are enormously confident. Why is Confidence a necessity for the leader leading innovation? For many leaders they either believe they are the only ones capable of generating a successful idea or they are intimidated by those that have good ideas and feel threatened that their idea will outshine them. Confident leaders know that what is truly important is winning or achieving their BHAG. They spend little to no time worrying about where the ideas come from that help in the successful attainment of the BHAG.

It takes a confident leader, with a passion for collaboration, and a fair amount of courage to develop and lead a culture of innovation. Does your organization innovate? What was the last new innovation you placed in the market? Whose idea was it? Where did it start and how many people were involved in its development? If you’re looking to assess an organizations ability to innovate ask the leader of that organization those questions and see how he or she replies. Their responses may surprise you.

Charisma or Character…How To Tell The Difference

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

wolf

In life we encounter many different types of people.  Introverts, extroverts, funny, serious, loud, quiet, shy, and jocular.  These are all personality traits or characteristics of an individual.  They do not define or identify their character.  Many times we try to “read people” to determine if they have good intentions or selfish desires.  Confusing character with charisma is an area where most people struggle.  It also poses potential danger if misread.  So what’s the difference between character and charisma and how do you determine if the person you’re interacting with has great character or is simply charismatic?

Before you can determine character from charisma let us first establish a working definition for both.  Character is the way someone thinks, feels, and ultimately behaves.  Think of character as an individuals guiding light, or true north.  People of great character operate with authenticity.  They have strong self-awareness, and the likelihood of them doing the right thing under the most difficult of circumstances, is incredibly high…almost unquestioned.   Character boils down to doing the right thing when no one else is looking.  Character is hard-wired.  You can teach right from wrong, but you can’t teach character.

Charisma on the other hand is an appeal that attracts others to an individual.  It could be a specific talent or attribute.  Charisma, or charm, are qualities that are also hard-wired into a personality.  Many celebrities, politicians, and public figures have great charisma.  It’s a quality that has been developed over time and used to rally support behind a persons specific efforts.  In the movies, as in life, there are people who have enough charisma to make obnoxious characters likable.  Perhaps this is where the saying “wolf in sheep’s clothing” came into existence.  We are often times fooled in life by people who are very charismatic rather than supporting the individual with strong character.  People with charisma seem to have it all and it’s exciting to be around them.  But charisma is no substitute for character.

So how can you tell the difference?

  1. When talking with someone do they open up or keep things shallow or superficial?
  2. How willing is the person to roll up their sleeves and “do”, versus simply talking about “doing”?
  3. When interacting with others does the person focus on the material things or do they make human connections?
  4. What examples can be found where this person did something good for someone, or some company, for which they received nothing in return?
  5. How do they treat and interact with their family and friends?
  6. Do they keep their word even if doing so results in a loss?  Or are they quick to abandon their commitments and justify doing so with one reason or another?

Learning how to deal effectively with people throughout life will determine your success and happiness.  Being proficient in identifying people with character versus charisma will give you greater opportunities to align yourself with those who will truly add value to your life thereby create lasting relationships.  Focus on establishing relationships with people rich in character rather than charisma.  Remember, charisma is an outward sign whereas character comes from within.  Surrounding yourself with people high in character will bring you a lifetime of self-fulfillment and happiness.

The Human Equation – Building Relationships That Last

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

relationships

Human beings are emotional creatures. We long to connect, to be seen, heard, felt, and understood. We strive to make good first impressions because we know what’s at risk if a first meeting goes wrong. Acceptance and recognition are perhaps cornerstones of what makes us human. We want to be part of the pack, to run with the herd. We crave recognition for what we contribute, and how we perform. Every race, every culture, every civilization yearns to feel united.

In business or in our personal lives the relationships we establish and maintain will ultimately determine our level of success, happiness and fulfillment. Building relationships is hard work. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Know this…the best things in life take time and a lot of hard work. Healthy, productive, and positive relationships are no different. And also know it’s a two-way street. The best relationships are not just about you, they are about the greatness that is produced as an output of two people, parties, partners, etc, coming together. With all great relationships the sum of the whole is much stronger than the sum of the parts.

Two specific elements are necessary for all great relationship to take seed: trust and authenticity. Both are difficult to establish but for different reasons. Trust requires risk and is a gift given to others. Authenticity requires truth and is a gift given to yourself.

Lasting relationships are built upon trust. Both parties must trust that the other has their best intentions in mind and in heart. If there is doubt in either, then trust does not exist. If breached, trust is very difficult to re-establish…perhaps impossible. Taking advantage of someone is the surest path toward damaging trust. In the business world this might look like playing hardball with pricing, financial compensation, terms and conditions, or a legal but perhaps unethical use of leverage. Doing what’s right is not the same as doing what is legal. My first boss taught me an important lesson….”if it’s right for the customer, and right for the business, and assuming it’s legal, then do it.” Notice the legal aspect is a given. It’s like integrity…it’s a must…it has to be there. Assuming it is, then focus on doing the right thing for the customer, friend, spouse, partner, etc., first…everything else follows.

Trust also is a reflection of character – acting authentically. Doing what’s right when no one else is looking. In the business world it is often easy to confuse charisma with character. I’ll write more on this subject in a future blog.

Authenticity requires self-awareness. You may be thinking that you’re already self-aware and if you are that’s awesome. But for most people the exercise of becoming self-aware is ongoing. It’s not a one and done. It’s a continuous assessment of yourself, your goals, your ideals, your philosophies, and your priorities. As circumstances change you need to reassess yourself. This is how many people get lost in their circumstance as opposed to remaining true to themselves…being authentic. No place is this more visible than in business or in the world of celebrity. As people acquire more power, money, and material things, they risk becoming out of balance between their circumstance and their “self”. To remain in check ask these two questions periodically: what is the most important thing in my life, and are the things I am doing aligned with what I’m saying is the most important thing?

By operating from a truly authentic place, you will be able to develop long-lasting relationships. You will develop a reputation as being someone who is trustworthy, loyal, and committed to doing the right thing. Before long you will sought after for your insights, ideas, and relationships.

How To Improve Boardroom Decisions

On By Joe DeRosaIn Business, Leadership, MarketingLeave a comment

Council

Daylong meetings starting at 7:30 am behind closed doors. Continental breakfast with all the coffee you can drink. Lunch around noon…sandwiches or pizza…followed by early afternoon cookies, more coffee, and an occasional bottle of water. The day ends around 5:30 pm with a 30 minute break to “freshen up” before going out for a team dinner. Sound familiar? It does if you’ve ever experienced an executive, or Board-level meeting.

Many companies are currently knee-deep in 2014 planning sessions. Meetings like the one I’ve described above are taking place in different cities across the country…and the world. Lots of PowerPoint presentations, opinions, predictions, explanations, what-ifs, if-nots, and I-needs, fill hours upon hours of meetings. Interestingly enough one of the most important ingredients to building a successful strategy is missing from many of these discussions…the customer.

A fair number of companies execute their planning season with an inside-out view. They go into these sessions with closed minds, hindered by their narrow focus of what is, rather than what could be. This is not necessarily a purposeful or conscious approach, but it just seems to happen that way. We look at last year’s results, add 10% or whatever number we “think” sounds reasonable and build a plan around it. Again, sound familiar?

But companies that drive significant growth through innovation do it differently…they involve the customer.  Here’s some proof.

One of the best shows on television today is The C-Suite.  The show, and its host Jeffrey Hayzlett, focuses on getting behind the typically-closed-doors of some of the country’s biggest brands.  They dig around the executives thinking, ideas, philosophies and plans.  Hayzlett asks tough questions, the questions viewers would love to ask if they could – and he gets answers.

In a recent episode of The C-Suite on BloombergTV, host Jeffrey Hayzlett profiled the Seattle Sounders professional soccer team. He met with the owner and the executive leadership to understand how the Sounders have accomplished sell-outs (60,000+ seats) at every home game. In a previous episode he met with the executive team of Dunkin Donuts to have a similar conversation about what’s driving their growth. What was quite surprising and impressive is that while both these companies are in completely different industries their response was nearly identical…they both involve the customer.

Joe Roth, the majority owner of the Sounders, and Nigel Travis the CEO of Dunkin Brands, have both established customer advisory councils. The Sounders’ council consists of season ticket holders and Dunkin’s is made up of a group of their franchisees. Both councils provide ideas, thoughts, and reactions to their respective company’s strategy and plans. The Sounders go as far as involving their council members in discussions from ticket prices to player selection. They have given the brand to their customers and are reaping the benefits in a big way.  In fact their leap of faith has paid of five-fold.

It takes guts to listen to your customers.  Executive teams must also have the courage to act on what their customers tell them. Oddly enough the companies that have allowed their customers to “hijack” their brand have been extremely successful as profiled in the book Brand Hijack. Given their success it’s interesting to me that more companies don’t follow this approach. At the same time I find it unbelievable that many companies still don’t listen to their customers yet expect, or hope they continue to spend their money on their brands.

It’s great to see some companies really nailing the customer experience.  Asking, engaging, listening and acting upon what the customer says is so powerful.  Providing a forum for that exchange to take place is a best practice all companies should follow.  For many things in life there is no silver bullet.  But in business, knowing your customer is the best silver bullet you’ve got.  You simply need to do three things:  Ask, listen, and act.

Does your company do this?

4 Behaviors That Will Improve Your Performance…Before 6 am

On By Joe DeRosaIn Leadership1 Comment

Sunrise

In studying many of the world’s greatest leaders, I have found a series of 4 common behaviors that drive each of them on a daily basis.  Whether a political leader, business leader, or a leader in the world of celebrity – Hollywood, or sports – great leaders display and demonstrate these behaviors on a consistent basis…daily.  What makes this all the more interesting is that all 4 of these things  take place between 4 – 6 am!  That’s right.  Great leaders are up and engaged well before the sun rises.  So what do all great leaders from Steve Jobs and George W. Bush, to Lou Gerstner and Bill Clinton have in common?  Here they are:

  1. Early risers.  Great leaders start their day early.  Many at 4 am.  They realize that by the time the rest of the world awakens they need to be ready to engage immediately.  Waking up early is the first step in their high-performance process.
  2. Exercise.  Many great leaders start their day by hitting the gym, getting a run in, a SPIN class, or yoga.  They understand that taking care of their bodies allow them to endure the stress and strain of their daily responsibilities.  The beauty of exercise beyond the obvious benefits is the release of endorphins.  This chemical reaction that takes place when exercising is what causes a “runners high” and overall great feeling of accomplishment when you’re done exercising that lasts well into the day.
  3. News.  A quick scan of the news is a common behavior shared by great leaders.  Not to get bogged down in the details but to have a high level understanding of what’s going on around them and how certain news may impact their business, customers, employees, etc.  There are a variety of apps available today that help gather news and put it in a format that allows the reader to view it quickly and efficiently.   Applications like Zite, Flipboard, and Pulse are known as personalized digital newspapers.  You select the general topics you want to be informed about and the application scours the internet for news on those specific topics, gathers it, and puts it into your digital newspaper.
  4.  Self-reflection.  Perhaps one of the most powerful performance enhancing activities is self-reflection.  Start each day with 15 minutes of self-reflection.  A time when you can take an introspective look at yourself, where you are, what you’ve done, what you’re doing, and where you’re headed.  If the activities you are currently doing are not aligned with where you’re heading, through self-reflection you can identify this disconnect quickly and make a course correction.  Self-reflection allows you to keep to your True North.

Try adding these behaviors to your daily routine for 3 weeks and see what differences you notice.  For something to become a habit you must do it 21 times.  One idea is to get a calendar and cross off each day…a countdown of sorts.  It will help you adjust and acclimate to this new performance enhancing ritual.  Let me know what you think.

“A manager is responsible for the application and performance of knowledge.” – Peter Drucker

Leadership Lessons From 3 Influential Men

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

lesson

Much has been written on the subject of leadership over the years. There are more than 103,000 books pertaining to “Leadership” at Amazon.com, and a huge multiple of that if you include books about specific leaders. I have read hundreds of these books over the years written by, or about, corporate leaders, world leaders, philosophical leaders, and celebrities representing all areas of fame. Great thoughts, ideas and perspectives can be gained from reading books across a broad swath of leaders. But for me, 3 individuals specifically have taught me some of the most important lessons in leadership. Here they are:

  1. Ronald Reagan. In her book, When Character Was King by Peggy Noonan, she describes Ronald Reagan as a deep thinker. Someone who wrote his own speeches, delivered his own messages and negotiated his own deals. He spent little time worrying about what others thought of him…other than Nancy his wife. Reagan became known as the Great Communicator and for good reason. He said what he meant, didn’t mince words, and had an unshakable conviction when he spoke. Being an effective communicator is important in all areas of life whether personal or professional. From President Reagan I learned the importance of having a clear, strong message of my own, that must be delivered with confidence and conviction.
  2. Bill George. The former CEO of Medtronic, has made the concept of authenticity the focus of two great books: Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value, and True North. He stresses the importance of being authentic, taking action in a way that conveys complete alignment with your values and your beliefs. When people begin to operate outside of their area of “authenticity”, those around them see and feel this disconnect, thus resulting in the creation of distrust. When your actions are not in alignment with your inner values an internal conflict begins to emerge and ultimately leads to failure personally and professionally.
  3. Joseph A. DeRosa – my dad. I understand that you don’t know my father. No books have been written about him, nor has he been profiled in any business publications or newspapers. Yet the lessons he continues to teach me as a man are consistent with those he instilled in me as a boy. From my father I learned the importance of integrity and character – knowing what the right thing is to do and doing it…no matter what. I learned that accountability is something to seek and cherish, not something to hide from. His teaching style is by example. He worked several jobs to raise his family and taught me the importance of working hard and being the best at what you do. Finally, the most important lesson I learned from my dad is to place family first, for at the end of the day, when the work is done or dissolved, your family will always be there to provide comfort, support, and love.

When I look at the leadership lessons I treasure most, I realize just how intertwined they are. Without strong character and self-awareness, it’s impossible to operate in an authentic way. And if you don’t emulate authenticity, no matter what your message is, it will not be believed or trusted. As the late Stephen Covey said, “Seek first to understand before being understood.” To place the needs and concerns of others, in front of your own, will demonstrate your desire to first understand.  Once people can FEEL your authenticity and trust develops, they will follow you even if only to catch a glimpse of where you’re going.

In the  coming weeks I will be posting a blog on Leadership Lessons from 3 Influential Women.  There is so much to be learned from all people, men and women, that I wanted to be sure I shared both sides.  Great leaders have a combination of many different traits, talents, and attributes, all of which have been developed over the years with multiple influences.