Enabling the ExtraOrdinary

James Kouzes and Barry Posner’s extensive research sum up in 5 simple points how you can get extraordinary things done…

1) Challenge the Process
2) Inspire a Shared Vision
3) Enable Others to Act
4) Model the Way
5) Encourage the Heart (Find the Spark – The MoJo)

Knowing how to enable is the easy part – keeping this philosophy top of mind is your challenge

Enablement is really all about “letting go”…

Letting go of the reins with vision, planning, accountability and heart

Here are 5 simple steps to take EVERY Day to turn ExtraOrdinary theory into Daily Execution

1) It all starts with a “word”… ENABLE

What is the definition of ENABLE? Simply, to Make Possible; Give Authority, Supply the Means, or Opportunity

Instead of calling yourself “Manager of Product Development”, VP of Sales, or Director of I.T Operations”… change you title to “ENABLER”. “Product Development Enabler, VP of Sales Enablement, I.T Operations Enabler, CEO – Chief Enabling Officer”

That is what I did when I was in policing – Instead of Detachment COMMANDER. I changed my title to Detachment ENABLER. Instead of Chief of Police – I was Chief Enabler

In my current job, I refer to my title as “Sales ENABLER”

I know it is just a word – but a word goes a long way to begin the process of transformation

2) Find the Root or Core of what needs to be enabled. In other words, find out what the heck you’re customer and your staff really want delivered – the primary – what is more important. Not want you want, find out from those you serve.

What is your shared vision? What are your core values? If you have these figured out already, then enablement is much easier. If you do not have them figured out, work on them first.

3) Enablement Becomes Job One – Your Reason for Being – Your Passion!

And it starts with…Get your head in the game!
Do whatever it takes – whatever works for you, but make enablement execution job one.

I suggest 30 minutes before you start work “EVERY DAY”… start asking and thinking on how you will execute on “making it possible”

4) The Talent is in the Room

Tap into your people. Start by shutting up and listening with your heart, your eyes, then your ears. Truly listen to what is important to them. Seek first to understand what the customer wants?

Remember, paradigm shifts occur from those on the fringe – those that do not fit into the box – those that are wiling to challenge the status quo.

If you want to uncover the “extraordinary”, find those on the fringe – ask – watch – listen

5) Nothing Fails Like Success – in other words if you want a fast track to disaster, just rest on your laurels.

Just because you are successful today, does not mean you will remain that way. Look no farther that Eastman Kodak and their recent bankruptcy. Heck – they should have “owned” the digital camera business.

As Jim Collins states in “How the Might Fall” – never lose sight of your CORE business and as my good friend Ryan Walter preaches… do whatever it takes to stay hungry!

Click Here to learn more about Enabling the ExtraOrdinary

Bully Leadership – How You Can Get Results, Gain Control, and Increase Profitability

Do you need to increase productivity?

Is it time to bring accountability and responsibility back into your workplace?

Are you losing money?

Then consider Bully Leadership as a fast track way to get your business, productivity and profitability back in line!

Join the masses of managers that have found that ruling by fear is easy and effective: Through barking out orders, blaming others; being disrespectful; recruiting henchmen, valuing only a select few; building divisiveness; threatening consequences; using harsh directions, and frequently imposing disciplinary procedures for non-compliance, you too can get results!
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Have I Made My Point

OK, you get my point. Bullies are not only on the playgrounds, they are in the workplace too. And they can suck the life-blood out of your organization. Yet, because of the need for immediate results, their style is reinforced by tradition, and continues on today in mass proportion. Just look around, whether it is in government, not for profits, or the private sector, more and more leaders are resorting to pulling out the iron fist (instead of the velvet glove).

I call Bully Leaders “Cowards in Suits”

Think about it, where do you think the word bully comes from? From the animal called “bull”. And what do bulls do? They charge when they see red. In other words, they get angry instantly, they have a low tolerance level, they snap when things don’t go their way. They charge ahead, they attack, and they leave a destructive path.

Look at just a few definitions of a Bully Leader.

- Coward
- Disrespectful
- Aggressive
- Controls
- Interferes
- Dominates
- Plagiarizes
- Random and impulsive
- Intentional causing pain
- Tyrant
- Command and Control
- Duplicitous
- Autocratic
- Dictator
- Inconsistent

What motivates a bully leader? There is no one answer, but experience and research has determined a shortlist.

One reason is because their approach delivers quick results. Bully leaders are into the quick fix. They want instant results and they are not willing to invest the time in their people. For bully leaders, fast results are more important that building a team. Bully leaders are impatient – they want change now!

Another reason is that Bully Leaders were promoted by other bullies. The “old boys club” is alive in well in the workplace today. You promote like thinkers. Bullies promote other bullies. It is just common sense. And one promoted, there is pressure on the new bully from the other managers to continue the abuse.

Finally, Bully Leaders were bullied themselves. They are victims of past injuries, and they now have an opportunity to unload their shame on their subordinates. There is a huge science behind victimization that I will not get into now. But suffice to say, some bully leaders have serious issues and they need help now.

Bully Leadership – an oxymoron

Then name Bully Leadership was deliberately crafted to combine contradictory terms. Bullying and Leading – Simply put, there is no place for bullying in leadership.

Look at the greatest definitions of leadership in the world today, and nowhere do you find any of the attributes of a bully.

The Costs are Staggering

Bully Leadership is alive and well in today’s workplace. 1 in 4 employees report being bullied in the workplace. Up to 70% of todays workforce is disengaged. Lack of leadership is the main reason. Bullying is the primary cause. Over 400 billion dollars a year are lost in productivity and profitability. Allowing Bully Leadership to flourish is a fast track way to sink your ship.

So, why do we allow it to occur? Why do we not have the courage to change our paradigm?

Remember…Leadership is about courage. It is about challenging the status quo. It is about inspiring the hearts and minds of your team. Leadership is not about being a coward.

How do you fight back? I have good news, there is a way. As my mentor Dr. Stephen R. Covey would say, there is a 3rd Alternative.

Stay tuned for next week when I show you how to fight back. I will show you the 3rd Alternative.

I call it bull fighting – but using the velvet glove approach (instead of the bully way – which would be with an iron fist)

Fighting Back – Bull Fighting

Stephen R. Covey Foreword to Breaking With the Law: The Story of Positive Tickets
www.PositiveTickets.com

Author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Prior to Stephen’s sudden passing, he wrote this passage for my book Positive Tickets. As Stephen so eloquently puts it ” Such creativity and focus in a community can lead to other breakthrough ideas aimed at keeping youth on a healthy, productive path.” I hope this inspires you to find your own creativity and positive problem solving approach. Remember – the ticket is the gateway to the relationship.

Many years ago, I heard a story about a waterfall. This particular waterfall was situated on a river that had recently become popular for whitewater sports—rafting, kayaking, etc. The drop-off to the waterfall was somewhat camouflaged. Most people didn’t see it coming until they were going over the edge. After several accidents at the waterfall, the agency in charge of river safety was called in to investigate. Of course, the public was outraged that such a waterfall was allowed to exist on this popular river. Politicians demanded action.

Members of the river safety agency conducted many studies on the waterfall. They measured its height. They determined the impact of various-sized watercraft that would be going over the falls. They studied the depth of the water at the base of the falls and the composition of the riverbed under the water to determine the types of injuries people might sustain. They partnered with local hospitals to prep them for waterfall victims. They partnered with the Search and Rescue department to have a diver on site to help people who didn’t immediately bob to the top. They worked with an ambulance service to set up a remote ambulance station on the banks at the bottom of the falls. Finally, they set goals with each partner and developed a scoreboard so they could track and measure their progress.

At the end of the whitewater boating season, the agency published its results. Of the 347 victims who had gone over the falls, only 10 had died immediately, a mere 3 percent. This number, they showed, had plummeted since the extra safety measures had been implemented. All of the surviving 337 victims were transported to the hospital within 10 minutes—a credit to the remote ambulance station and the dedication of its personnel. But the real hero of the day was the Search and Rescue diver. He had plunged into the river 102 out of 347 times to drag the bodies of the victims out of the swirling water. A feature in the local newspaper heralded his bravery. And though not as important as human life, it was also interesting to note that 95 percent of the watercraft boats were successfully recovered, though all were in need of repair.

By now you must be rolling your eyes at this story. How ridiculous! The solutions in this story are so obtuse that it becomes cynically comical. You’ve probably developed several much better solutions in your head already—post signs along the river warning people of the waterfall, build an easy take-out well before the waterfall, position a Search and Rescue boat at the top of the falls to help people who don’t make the take-out, build a fence or catch net across the river well before the top of the falls, or even close down this portion of the river to whitewater crafts. Any of these measures would be more effective and cost efficient. And instead of 10 fatalities and 337 injuries, you could have no fatalities and dramatically fewer injuries.

The answer seems so obvious. Now let’s take a real-world situation and see if it’s still as obvious. According to government statistics published by the U.S. and Canada, on any given day, roughly 92,800 juveniles are in custody in the U.S. and 1,898 in Canada. In essence, these are the kids who have gone over the “waterfall.” And we spend enormous amounts of time, effort, and resources at the bottom of the “falls.” We hire more police officers, we build larger detention facilities, we sign up more foster families, we develop inmate programs, we develop transition programs, etc. All of these things are “bottom of the fall” activities. They are reactive. The problems have already occurred and we are now trying to fix them.

This book, Breaking With the Law: The Story of Positive Tickets, is about one relatively simple, yet powerfully effective, proactive strategy in building relationships with youth and preventing them from “going over the falls.” Positive Tickets is effective for three reasons. First, it’s completely proactive. Second, it focuses on the root cause. And third, its source of energy is synergy.

Positive Tickets Is Proactive

In my book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Habit 1 is called Be Proactive. Be proactive is another way to say take initiative or take responsibility. For many years, I have admired and respected Ward Clapham’s work in law enforcement. When I heard about what he was doing with youth and with Positive Tickets, I was immediately fascinated and curious. As I learned more, I came to realize that Positive Tickets is almost a utopian application of Habit 1. The habit is really about living your life at the top of the waterfall instead of at the bottom. Think how much more efficient (in terms of resources and dollars) and effective (in terms of number of youth who stay out of the juvenile justice system) our work with youth in the community would be if we focused on proactive activities instead of reactive ones. Instead of catching kids doing something wrong, Positive Tickets is about catching kids doing something right. The program is not just discouraging youth from breaking the law; it’s encouraging them to lead an active, productive lifestyle.

This type of approach seems commonsensical, yet it’s amazing to me how many communities would rather focus their time and effort on reactive programs than proactive ones. Skeptics toss out comments such as, “Shouldn’t law enforcement officers spend their time catching delinquents and trouble-makers instead of hanging out at the park with kids and handing out free tickets? Why aren’t they doing real police work?” These types of comments shine a bright light on faulty logic. In essence, these critics are at the bottom of the waterfall looking around for the ambulance and Search and Rescue diver. They fail to recognize that the party has now moved its position to the top of the waterfall. What they also fail to recognize is that hardly anyone is going over the edge anymore. Proactive policing activities prevent juvenile crime from ever happening. Real police work is as much about prevention as it is about suppression. If hanging out in parks with kids; building relationships with them; and handing out tickets to fun, free activities reduces juvenile calls for service by upwards of 50 percent, then real police work is most definitely happening.

The free tickets themselves encourage youth to be proactive. Most tickets are to some sort of activity that encourage health and positive social interactions, such as bowling, skating, swimming, etc. Perhaps without the kids realizing it, the tickets are helping kids to stay fit, improve their social skills, and have fun—the part that matters most to them.

Positive Tickets Focuses on the Roots

American author and naturalist Henry David Thoreau wrote, “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.” Positive Tickets strikes at the root of youth problems. The program is not primarily about the free tickets. It’s about the relationship between the adult giving the ticket and the youth receiving the ticket. Building relationships of trust focuses on root problems that many kids experience. They desperately need positive mentoring and guidance from adults, which many are lacking. The ticket is simply the device that enables adults to build relationships with the kids. The ticket is the means to the end, not the end itself. Research shows that it takes three to five caring adults to raise a child. Positive Tickets is providing one of those important adults.

Positive Tickets Uses Synergy

Positive Tickets is a community effort. No one person or organization can do it alone. It takes the creative thought, energy, and passion of many people to make it work. In other words, it takes synergy. As you work together, the best ideas for implementing the program emerge. Your interactions with youth help you see what works and what doesn’t. Ideas and input percolate to help Positive Tickets leaders make the best decisions about the program. Such creativity and focus in a community can lead to other breakthrough ideas aimed at keeping youth on a healthy, productive path.

A Final Word

Leonardo da Vinci said, “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.” Our efforts to help youth in our communities grow up to enjoy healthy, successful lives come from action. Positive Tickets is an immediate, actionable program that yields enviable results. This proactive, preventive model inspires the best in everyone involved. It’s a program worthy of consideration by any community interested in helping the next generation make the most of themselves.

Stephen R. Covey
Author, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

More on Positive Tickets

Welcome to being a Leader! Maybe you’ve been doing it for a while? Maybe this is all brand new to you? Regardless, nobody said it was going to be easy. Rest assured you are going to have days from hell.
Regardless of your tenure, here are a few simple rules and realities that all leaders need to keep top of mind…I suggest thinking about this all the time.

On Being a Leader

This does not mean being an autocratic, micromanaging, iron fisted ruler…
This does not mean being a push over, laissez faire, or “don’t rock the boat” carefree employee
Being a Leader is Not a Popularity Contest
Being Their Friend and Their Leader (Boss) is a slippery slope – one you must navigate carefully on. It requires changing roles between “on and off duty”. And when you are on duty, it means…
Taking Charge – Taking Command (but in a shared leadership approach)

It also requires Managing Expectations
What is “Managing Expectations”?
Simply put, tell me up front what you want from me.

It is Positive Discipline – Rules, Regulations, Expectations, Policies understood up front
It is giving clear direction, managing expectations, and holding one accountable to these expectations.

You Manage Things – You Lead People

You do both. Depending on your role, you may be required to be more of a manager than a leader.

Management – Leadership Balance

You are both a Manager and a Leader
You Manage Things
You Lead People
Mistake Commonly Made is…
Treating People Like Things

This is Management
Policy
Rules
Process
Money
Systems
Standards
Measurements

This is Leadership
People
Context
Culture
Purpose
Principles
Inspiration
Preferred future

Leadership is about inspiring the preferred future through your people. It is hard to get inspired when you are micromanaged, and not trusted.

Here is my simple rule…
Go Hard With the Issues, But Soft on People

Click Here for More Information

In communities, organizations, and business too often we wait until problems happen to react—a defensive, treatment-type of position. But our mode should really be one more of attack—an offensive, inoculation position. Using innovation, creativity, and a break-with mentality, we can solve problems before they ever happen. A proactive approach is not about working harder, it’s about working smarter.

In How the Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In by Jim Collins, he describes a rivalry between two electronic superstores—Best Buy and Circuit City. Collins explains how Best Buy was innovative and creative. They saw changes in the market and too advantage of them. They used a consistent rationale based on their mission to flex and adapt as needed. Circuit City, on the other hand, did not stay focused on their core business. They ventured into fringe electronic products that didn’t pay off in the end and even bought the used car business CarMax.

Circuit City did not revitalize itself around its core business with passion, innovation, and creativity. On November 10, 2008, Circuit City announced that it had filed for bankruptcy. On the other hand, Best Buy continually evolved, modifying their approach with creative improvements and intelligent adaptation. Best Buy is flourishing today as #294 on the 2010 Forbes 2000 List with a market value of over $15 billion.

My point is that Best Buy was proactive and innovative. They went on the offensive to gain market share. They figured out what the customer wanted and then delivered their products and services with passion and intensity. Best Buy stayed true to the principles that made them. With creativity and ingenuity, they inoculated against bankruptcy when their competitor did not.

To Learn More Click Here

No child grows up wanting to be a criminal… so what goes wrong?

How could we, as a society, help these kids from heading down the wrong path? By watching and acting on early risk indicators for criminal behaviour, we can invest in a better future. If we neglect our children when they are young, crime is the cost we will have to bear. This observation is based on research-based evidence and my 30 years of first-hand experience as a police officer.

Risk Factors for Criminal Behavior

Crime is a phenomenon influenced from a variety of factors including education levels, cultural factors and the economy of a particular region. Kids are not born criminals; a number of factors come into play that make kids more likely to find themselves in a life of crime either as juveniles or later in life.

Very few juveniles commit crime; a small number of juveniles are responsible for the majority of juvenile crime and these juveniles show a number of at-risk indicators. These at-risk behaviors could include: failure in school, family problems (a history of criminal activity, abuse, neglect, abandonment), substance abuse, conduct problems (stealing, running away), and involvement in gangs. The Government of Canada provides a chart outlining the cumulative and interactive effects of risk factors by age group and the CDC outlines a similar chart of risk behavior by grade and gender. Youth who exhibit multiple risk factors are most likely to become career criminals; so, what can we do to prevent these risk factors from turning into future criminal behavior?

Pay Now or Pay Later

There is a cost to preventative services and programs that often prohibits their widespread adoption; ironically, this up-front preventative cost is lower than the costs of later crime.

Crime exacts a heavy cost, both financially and socially. From violent crimes and property crimes to drug and alcohol abuse, the costs is immeasurable. How can you measure the loss of a life? Can any victim put a cost on their experience? If juvenile risk factors can be a predictor of future crimes, why aren’t we stepping in to offer help before these crimes take place? If we can reduce crime by investing in our youth, why aren’t we?
It is our fault that crime continues to be such a problem; our inaction has allowed many kids to enter into a life of crime rather than becoming productive members of society. Our lack of courage and coordinated action at the front-end are exerting too high a cost.

Develop Positive Assets in Our Youth:

Investment Can Yield a 94% Chance They Will Not Engage in Crime

Research from the Search Institute has found that positive experiences (assets) and characteristics for young people have a correlation with reduced high-risk behaviors in youth (alcohol, violence, drugs, sexual activity). The more of these assets that children have, the greater the reduction in these negative behaviors and an increase in positive behaviors and attitudes such as leadership, good health, and success in school. Simply put, once a young person has 31 or more assets in their life, the chance that they will be involved in crime is less than 6%.

The asset we should be encouraging in our youth are developed from factors such as family dynamics, support from community adults, school effectiveness, peer influence, values development, and social skills. In essence, these protective factors create a resiliency in youth to help protect them from risk factors.

Based on these factors, it’s clear to see that early attempts to increase these assets can reduce future problem behavior. Through the development of programs, services, and counselling, we can help our youth to follow a better path in life. It is our responsibility to work to create programs to develop positive assets and to identify risk factors in our youth as an opportunity for additional intervention.

For those who are just starting off on a criminal path, we should consider that juvenile crime can also be an opportunity for intervention. Here we’re not talking necessarily about preventing crime but about working in the middle of the crime cycle – of finding ways of correcting crime that is already happening before it becomes worse.

For more information Click Here

Part 1 of several of leadership lessons I learned from the 2012 Summer Olympic Games

1) If you mess up, fess up and dress up. People understand and accept we are only human. Nothing goes further than acknowledging the mistake, taking ownership and accountability, and fixing it.

2) When you are the greatest, and on world stage – Do and say something to inspire the masses. Instead of saying how great you are, inspire others – maybe through your struggle to get to the top… or maybe honor somebody else that inspired you.

3) The Mighty Will Fall – be nice to the people on the way up, because you will be meeting them on the way down. In other words, check your arrogance and ego at the front door. Walk and talk the life of a servant leader. That makes me proud to be your fan.

4) There is no quick fix – shortcuts will come back to haunt you. Your options are “Pay now or Pay later”… you are going to pay as everyone gets caught somehow, some day. The law of the harvest – long term investment will ensure your legacy.

5) Winning and Losing showcases the true character of the person. I saw more winners that placed dead last in their heats or games. The way they handled defeat, adversity and humiliation speaks way more about their true character and who they are, then a medal.

6) Humility is mother of all virtues. Win or lose, share your happiness, showcase others, honor your opponents, put them above you – hold them the pedestal (the podium). Do that and I will become your biggest cheerleader and follow you through thick and thin.

7) Tell me about your journey, more than the moment – a split second race ends pretty quickly. Your daily struggle, habits and focus is what inspires me the most to want to be like you. Because at the end of the day, we will forget about the race and be thinking about the “what’s next”. Teach me the journey as that will sustain me during the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Even though all of us cannot have a gold medal, all of us can have a gold medal performance. Meaning… no quick fixes or shortcuts; put her all on the track; pick yourself up if you fall and get back into the game; and in that moment of choice, leave your legacy by doing something to honor and inspire.

More lessons to come next week

www.wardclapham.com