Do You Shoot from the Hip?

Remember the maverick gunslinger — the bad guy in the old westerns — who rode into town, shabby and unshaven, clanged his spurs all the way up to the bar, slammed down shots of whiskey, and cheated at cards with an ace up his sleeve?

Countless times he would be dared into a showdown in the street.  If he was fast on the draw, he took down many a challenger, and his fearful reputation grew.

In each duel, one thing was always identical for both combatants.

Neither aimed his gun.

They simply drew with bravado and lightening quickness — and shot from the hip.  Hoping the no-aim shot would be accurate enough.

Sometimes it was.  Sometimes not.

That “wild west lifestyle” that led to gun-totin’ street brawls is a pretty good metaphor for how some leaders pilot their organizations.  And how some managers run their departments and teams.

Carefree.  Impromptu.  Renegade.  Unplanned.  With nothing to ensure successful outcomes except … HOPE.

Oh, if only it worked like that.  So simple.

Fact is, those who lead the charge in the most successful businesses, organizations, sports franchises, military battalions, civic groups — you name it — do NOT run willy-nilly.  They do NOT play blind archery.  They do NOT live day-to-day.

They do NOT shoot from the hip.

Oh sure, every once in a while.  If urgency and lack of time require it.  

But mostly… they prepare.

Meticulously.  Thoroughly.  Deeply.  In advance.  They leave little to chance.

Don’t believe me?  Listen to this.

I clipped a 2008 interview in Sky magazine with John Andariese, analyst for NBA TV and the radio voice of the New York Knicks on the Madison Square Garden Network.  Here’s how he describes his preparation for a Knicks radio broadcast:

“I get six papers at my door in New York every morning — The New York Times, The Post, The Daily News, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Newsday.  Before I walk out of the house, I have to have the pulse of basketball, and also business.  I don’t like to come into my office at TVi or go to Madison Square Garden, my two worlds, and not know about a big trade or not know that an advertising agency just won a huge account.  Say the Knicks are playing Cleveland at home — I try to get the Cleveland Plain Dealer story about the Cavaliers that day.  I’ll get that online.  I also have a thick book that I started putting together when I was on ESPN years ago.  Silly as it may sound, I cut out every box score of every game played and paste them into a book I buy each year.  Flying on a plane, it’s a little embarrassing to do this, but I get a feel for each team by studying these box scores.  You have to bring something to every game.”

Whoa.  Talk about preparation!

Think that’s weird?  Then how about this.

I was listening to local sports radio and heard an interview with Atlanta Braves GM Frank Wren.  A caller said when he goes to the ballpark for a game, he sees Wren up in his GM box with computer screens in front of him — and asked what he was looking at.

Wren said on one screen, he watches the Braves game on TV, which is a 5-second delay.  So he first sees the action live on-field, then effectively sees a replay 5 seconds later, so he can pinpoint specific movements, techniques, flaws — that help him make better decisions.  On another, he has a software program that allows him to view eight other baseball games all at once, all on the same screen, being played live and concurrently, so he can track activity of other teams in the division and around the league.  Again, to help him make better decisions — for scouting, player strengths and weaknesses, strategic moves by managers, future trades, et al.

Think these guys are nuts?  Think they’re going overboard with detail?

Well, the very best leaders — the ones who enjoy the most consistent, long-term success — don’t think so.  The smart ones do their homework.  In high volume.  

Lessons & Actions For You:

So where do YOU stand on this whole issue of planning and preparation?

Oilman entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens, in his book “The First Billion Is The Hardest” said his dad gave him this sound advice as a kid:  A fool with a plan will beat a genius without a plan every time.

Pickens has been a planner ever since.  His success speaks for itself.

Football coach Lou Holtz said:  “If you only maintain, you become the hunted.  You either get better or get worse.” 

Few get better without planning.  And when they do, it’s only temporary.

As you look into your “leader mirror” and assess your own planning strengths and weaknesses, I have 3 thoughts for you.

(1)  Let’s start with the organization.  Plain and simple, it is the leader’s job to see that planning is done.  This responsibility falls inescapably to you — whether you run the whole enchilada — or a unit, a division, a department, or a small team.  If you have only one direct report, you’re a leader.  

If you’re not planning, you’re dodging a key leader responsibility.  Hop on it.

Notice, however, I did NOT say the leader must be the sole creator of the plan.  In fact, doing that is a bad idea (unless you’re a one-person organization) and a prescription for disaster.  Better to form a planning team that creates the plan together.  

Why?  If you want to have a prayer of successful implementation — and why wouldn’t you? — then you need buy-in from the implementers.  Letting them co-create the plan with you is a huge step in that direction.  People don’t reject their own ideas.  Involve them.

You also need an effective process that covers two critical bases:  creation of a brilliant plan… and the successful execution of it.

I’ve been helping companies, organizations, and teams to create such plans for decades, using a process that covers both bases with dramatic effectiveness.  I know the power of a team-created plan, with the buy-in of all, plus bullet-proof accountability, and how that combination turbo-charges the implementation.

(2)  Let’s move to your personal information-gathering style.  Why not take a page from Andariese and Wren, and make an exhaustive list of the research sources you need to be checking each day or each week to be a walking encyclopedia on your industry, your markets, your competitors.  

These two guys, because of their unquenchable thirst for critical data, may be oddballs to the “general” business world — the widespread masses.  But their behavior is very much in sync with the highest achievers — the top 1 to 3% whose daily practices are very different from the majority.    

Same with Pickens and Holtz.  

In this newsletter, I have no intention of helping leaders become average.  It’s about sharing and teaching behaviors to achieve riveting, repetitive success.  To most, those behaviors will seem quirky and overdone.

So… which “leader style” do you want to embrace?  That of the vast majority (a.k.a. mediocre)?  Or the zealot minority (a.k.a. top performers)?

(3)  Finally, on to your followers.  I submit to you that, if you’re a leader, and you are NOT leading the charge in planning, then your followers — without telling you — think you’re a weak, visionless figurehead — and it’s merely a matter of time before they jump ship to follow a leader with a plan.  

I hear this from company employees with frightening frequency.  

Don’t be fooled by their nodding heads and chuckling at your jokes — because on lunch hour or after work over a beer with the buds, their truth comes out.  They’re laughing AT you, not with you.  No one of substance will follow a visionless leader.

If that sounds brutal, I’m not sorry.  Hearing harsh reality is part and parcel to being an effective leader.  

So if you’re feeling a sting, then you have two choices.  You can rip the stripes off your sleeve and hand them to a more able individual.  Or better yet, you can get out the Bactine, give the wound a shot, then step up and fix what you’re doing wrong.  

In other words … stop shooting from the hip and start a methodical, intense and ongoing process of planning and preparation.

I’ll admit, shooting from the hip is fun… daring… renegade… and looks cool as all get-out.  Heck, I remember when I was 9 and had a “Fanner 50” toy handgun that I’d practice drawing from my cowboy holster in the back yard and pretend to hip-shoot imaginary bad guys.

In make-believe, I hit every one.

But in real-life business, you’ll hit no more than a few.  Every now and then.  With no regularity.  No consistency.  And no predictability.  

Ain’t no way to run a railroad.

So be better than that.  Step up and be a leader.  Organize.  Plan.  And prepare.  Like Andariese, Wren, Pickens, Holtz.  And other winners who have walked this honorable leader path before you. 

Helping Ambitious Forward-Thinkers Soar To Success…

By Rick Houcek, President
Soar With Eagles, Inc.

ATTENTION ENTREPRENEURS AND CEOs:  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.