A Powerful New Twist In Defining And Enriching Your Leadership Style

Ever had a psychologist ask you:  If you were an animal in the jungle, what would you be?

Your response, symbolically, is supposed to be a window into your psyche.  A clue to your personality.  The way you think.  How you see yourself.

If you say “jaguar”, perhaps you visualize yourself as sleek, speedy, graceful.  Lean and lithe. 

Able to make quick decisions.  Think well on your feet.

If you respond “crocodile”, your self-interpretation might be seen as aggressive, predatory, killer instinct.

Another favorite clinical question is:  What color is your marriage?

“Blue” might mean cold and impersonal.  No conversation.  Distant.

“Red” could mean hot and steamy.  Passionate.  Physical.

Different animals, different colors … all mean different things.  That’s the whole point of the exercise.

You get the idea.

Well, all this got me to thinking…

Could we use similar questions to help leaders define their style?  The current style they have and the richer style they want?

Sure.  Why not.

Only I’m not going to use jungle animals or colors.  Not sports teams or yard plants.  Neither race cars nor airplanes.

Nope.  I’ve chosen a different metaphor.

Days on the calendar.

Wacky, you say?  Maybe.  But as silly or disconnected as that may sound, bear with me.  I think you’ll see a powerful point.  And a deep learning lesson that can alter your leadership style for the better.

I’ve chosen two days.  Just two.

The first:  September 10, 2001.

What was your life like on that day?

Let me offer some “maybes” of what you were doing.

Maybe for you, it was a day like most other Mondays.  Nothing special.  First day of a new week. 

Back to work or back to school from the weekend.

Maybe you were in a good mood, maybe not.  Do you even remember?

Maybe the important relationships in your life were loving and solid.  Or maybe one or more was in turmoil.  With parents?  Kids?  Siblings?  Neighbors?  Co-workers?

Maybe there were people in your life you had been meaning to call, and just hadn’t gotten around to it.  No hurry, you’re busy.  They’ll understand.

Maybe you hadn’t told your spouse or significant-other that you loved him or her in a while.  Or hadn’t hugged your kids in a few days, or weeks.

Or maybe someone at work had done a great job on a tough project, but you hadn’t stopped by to say congratulations.  It’s okay, you’ll probably run into her in the break room later this week. 

There’s always time.

Maybe your life and career were frustrating because there was just too much going on.  Priorities on top of priorities.  You were under water.  Being pulled in too many directions.  Everyone wanted a piece of you.  Hard to say no.

Maybe there were big initiatives at your company — or projects at home — that just never seemed to get off the ground.  The urgent overtook the important.  The mundane old routine crushed the exciting new opportunity.

In summary, you were coasting.  On auto-pilot.  Doing today just what you did yesterday, with little conscious thought to how you could improve it for tomorrow.  In a rut.

Life and business as usual.  Nothing earthshattering.

Got the picture?

In fact, did anything so exciting, so profound, so tantalizing, so vividly captivating happen on September 10, 2001, that you even remember?

Because …

Only one day later, the world turned upside-down.  One of the most tragic, horrific and gruesome days in modern history unfolded, and is etched in our minds and hearts forever.

September 11th happened.  The events of that day will never go away.  Not for Americans.  Not for any decent human being anywhere on planet Earth.

But let’s roll the tape forward one more day.  To September 12, 2001.

That’s the second day in this exercise.  I’m willing to bet you were a whole different person on

September 12th than you were on the 10th.

Let me take a crack at describing you on September 12th.

Chances are, you were at home.  (Or stranded in some distant city without air travel out.) 

Schools were closed.  Many businesses too.  Passenger air travel was shut down and airports were empty.  Other forms of mass transit offered only sketchy service at best.  Restaurants, shopping malls … good luck finding them open.  Professional sports took a hiatus.

So, you had few distractions.  You were focused.  Probably glued to your TV.

Still in gut-wrenching agony and disbelief over the events of the day before, but past the initial shock.  Your head was starting to un-fog.  Reality was setting in.

On this day, you had clarity.  You knew your priorities.  Family first.  You knew what was important and what wasn’t.  You hugged them all.  Long and often.  Curled up on the couch, touching.  Or wishing you were.  You said “I love you” with conviction and passion — and it may have been the first time the words had left your lips in a while.

A sense of “do it now” replaced “I’ll get around to it”.  You were brutally reminded how short life is, and that you may never get another chance at the big stuff.

Feelings of national apathy were jolted away, and replaced by waves of intense patriotism.

Vacation stories you remember your next-door neighbor telling about “those rude New Yorkers” changed for you in a nanosecond.  You cried.  You empathized.  You felt their searing pain in your gut.  On TV, you saw them — maybe for the first time — as blood brothers and sisters in a fight against a common foe.  Allies all.

As you watched their families, their businesses, their buildings, and their city torn apart, you thought, “Wait.  It could happen here.  It could happen tomorrow!  Are any of us safe?”

I’ll bet on September 12th, you called people you hadn’t talked to in a long time.  Just to hear their voice.  To catch up.  Reconnect.

Things that angered you on the 10th — like your kids leaving a light on or your spouse nitpicking one of your annoying habits — DIDN’T today.  Seemed so trivial now.

Dramatic change.  All in the span of 48 hours.

LESSONS & ACTIONS FOR YOU:

Now, here’s the ultimate question.  And the leadership twist I promised:

Metaphorically, which are you …

A September 10th Leader?  Or a September 12th Leader?

Are you unclear, lackadaisical, just getting by?  Willing to tolerate mediocrity rather than upset the applecart?  In no particular hurry?  Settling for average?  Operating in a mental fog? 

Unmotivated to fix the broken elements of your life or business?  Avoiding the conversations you knew you need to have.  Just going through the motions?  Passionless?

Or …

Are you focused, clear, and acting with purpose?  Fully cognizant of the sequence of priorities in your life?  Spending quality time with the people most important to you?  Offering praise when it’s earned?  Having the tough conversation when needed, not holding back?  Living with passion and zeal?  Treating others with dignity?  A constant learner and seeker of new knowledge?  Driven to succeed?  Organized and buttoned up?

It’s worth some deep thought.  And some behavior change.

Everything matters.  At least it does to a September 12th Leader.

By Rick Houcek, President of Soar With Eagles, Inc.

Rick Houcek facilitates off-site strategic planning retreats, helping CEOs and Leadership Teams create high-impact plans that overcome the crippling effects of lousy execution (the single biggest cause of plan failure) - and get successfully implemented!  His dynamic Power PlanningTM strategic process drives action through his Escape-Proof AccountabilityTM system.  It’s ideal for small and mid-size businesses.  To bring this potent weapon to your team, contact Rick by phone, email or fax.  Visit his web site at www.SoarWithEagles.com.   And ask about his 100% No-Risk Guarantee.