Guest Post-More Leadership Lessons Learned the Wrong Way
Filed under: Career, Fresh Voices, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Leading the Generations, Life and Business, Professional Growth, Surviving Lousy Leaders, Your Professional Development "To Do" List
Note from Art: It’s always fun when a post strikes a chord and compels someone to comment or even put hands to keyboard and crank out a guest post. Last week’s “Leadership Lessons Learned In a Crane and Sitting on a 5 Gallon Pail” drew upon some of my own early career memories and the formative lessons learned the hard way and served as inspiration for some interesting comments and today’s guest post.
Joe Zurawski is back with us today serving up a nice post on one of the early career experiences that shaped his own leadership development. You may recall that Joe joined us here a few months ago with his take on “Things I Wish I Knew When I Became a Leader.” Joe, welcome back and thanks for sharing!
–
Why I’ve Vowed Not to Be Like Glen, by Joe Zurawski
How does this sound for your first job out of college: starting salary above most of your friends, five weeks vacation plus 15 holidays, 8:00-4:30 days with 90 minute lunches, and a 2:1 matching 401(k)! Why would anyone ever leave?!
As a newly minted, 21 year old mechanical engineer out of Marquette University, I was ready to go conquer mechanical stuff. This job at a U.S. Department of Energy research facility, where physicists were making new discoveries every year, seemed liked the perfect place to put my education to the test.
My first real assignment was to work with visiting professor from Cornell University to design and build a new type of device to support his research. It had everything an “engi-nerd” could want: an all-new device with gears, motors, lots of stainless steel, and some extreme environmental conditions. Also, I would have the chance to learn from the most senior person in the group (“Glen”) who had worked at the facility since it was a pristine prairie with no buildings nearly two decades earlier. He literally built the facility from ground up and knew every piece of equipment inside and out.
You can maybe guess what happened. Instead of being coached on how to design my first machine, I was handed a stack of machine design magazines and told to read them (and to take my time…). Not being the patient type, I plunged ahead and created my design by talking to lots of people, asking for help, and just taking my best shot. Glen did not want to be bothered by a junior know-nothing.
As the design took shape, I had my college textbooks spread out on the table and diligently worked calculations and triple checked the math. When I thought it was ready, I presented to Glen, ready to hear how great it was. Instead, he quickly said it wouldn’t work and I should design it like so. When I asked him why, he said that because of all his experience doing these things, he knew a key area of my design just wouldn’t work right.
Crushed, I went back to my table and went back through all my calculations again. It had to work – everything that could go wrong was accounted for in the design. With the blessing of the department manager, I moved ahead on my approach. Glen wiped his hands of the project and blew me off.
During this time, I had made a point of getting to know the factory fabricator guys and asking their perspective on how to build the device. It turns out they didn’t care for Glen and were eager to help me show him up. Glen never asked for their help; he just told them how it had to be.
When the device was finally installed, I had a few nervous days as the Cornell professor tested it. The results were in: it worked perfectly! As for Glen, he literally never said a word about it to me.
The Bottom Line
I have carried that lesson with me my entire career. A super experienced engineer was completely closed to the perspective that a young kid could have a good idea. He was closed to learning and displayed an attitude that there was nothing that I could teach him. As I am now the older person in the room, every time I get the sense of “I’ve been there and done that and know the answer,” I force myself to pause and remember not to be like Glen.
- There is always something to be learned from everyone, including the most junior associates
- As a leader, get good at asking challenging questions to help your associates consider the unexpected and see how they answer. Have they really thought through it?
- Don’t miss the chance to have a positive impact on a young professional by actively coaching and mentoring. They will learn more, and you just might learn more.
–
About Joe Zurawski: Joe is a strategy and innovation executive with a career that has spanned strategy development and execution, whole lifecycle product innovation and management, demand generation marketing, and global alliances. He has worked in electronics companies (including Motorola), software (Firstlogic/Business Objects, SPSS), and spent several years in management consulting at Ernst & Young. You can reach Joe at jzurawsk@chicagobooth.edu.
Leadership Caffeine-Character Forged in Defeat
Filed under: Career, Crisis Leadership, Current Affairs, Leadership, Leadership Caffeine, Leadership Skills, Life and Business, Management Excellence Tips for Tough Times, Performance, Professional Growth, Social Satire, Your Professional Development "To Do" List
Everyone loves a winner. As a society, we like watching and reading about winners. We worship our sports heroes and we study and celebrate the great victories of history.
Hundreds of millions of people around the globe watch the Super Bowl every year, but only 5 or so can name the losers for the past 5 years. We remember the winners that grab the headlines and the losers are relegated to the fine print of the box scores and answers in trivia games.
Winning is great. It’s often the culmination of years of hard work, a relentless focus on condition and outstanding execution. What high school or college football coach hasn’t hung a poster in the locker or training room with Vince Lombardi’s inspirational quote:
“I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious”
It’s easy to lose track of the reality that most victories are forged in the emotional blast furnace of prior losses.
It’s the losses and outright failures in life and business that either beat you down or fuel your competitive fires to grow and improve and compete and eventually lie on Lombardi’s metaphorical field exhausted and victorious.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not in favor of going out and seeking losses if you don’t have to. However, unless you are one of the rare ones that leads a charmed existence, chances are that you will suffer setbacks both large and small.
Your response to those setbacks is the measure of your character.
Projects will flounder and fail. What did you learn?
People that you invest in will fail or worse yet, seize the knife. Et tu Brute.
The life of a leader is filled with character building opportunities. Our scoreboards and performance measures and quarterlies tell part of the story, but victory as a leader takes place over a much longer time than we are accustomed to measuring.
Hey, I love great short-term numbers. I love the thrill of hitting and exceeding targets and the nice payday is good. But those victories are hollow compared to winning the real game.
Your victory as a leader will be reported years from now, perhaps long after you’ve walked off the field. Take a glance back and see what you’ve left behind.
If you’ve left a trail of people…professionals and leaders that are succeeding and successful and happily serving others, then you’ve won. Don’t worry about the failures. They made you stronger, they taught you how to succeed and they fueled the fire that ultimately forged your leadership character.
Today’s challenges might seem overwhelming. They’re truly nothing more than a momentarily obstacle or a misstep on a long road.
Take the time to face up to failure, reflect upon the lessons learned and then begin moving forward towards your next victory.
Regular readers know that I cannot resist looking to history for inspiration.
Lincoln faced defeat after defeat and a string of failed generals that left him the loneliest man in a divided America. He eventually got it right.
Washington might just have the worst Win-Loss record in the annals of military generals. We all know the outcome.
Failure can beat you down and break you if you let it. True leaders grimace, feel the burn in their bellies and then laugh and move forward.
Laugh today and keep moving forward.
Want a Great Primer in Leadership? Work for a Bastard and Take Notes
Filed under: Career, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Life and Business, Management Education, Performance, Professional Growth, Surviving Lousy Leaders, Your Professional Development "To Do" List
(And then do the opposite!)
Note from Art: I’m hoping (a bad strategy) that the popularization of the “B” word by director Quentin Tarantino and his forthcoming movie “Inglorious Basterds” (with an e?) has desensitized most of us to that harsh term and label. Apologies if I’ve offended anyone and/or drawn the wrath of your IT spam filter.
Another Note from Art: since several of my former bosses read my posts, please rest assured that none of you are the subjects of or the inspiration for this post! Really!
OK, I am serious about the topic. While I wouldn’t counsel you to seek out and work for a b@st@rd as part of your formal mentoring experience, given the ratio of these characters to good leaders in the workplace, chances are you’ll trip across one or more in your career. When you do, take in the experience as a powerful education in how not to lead.
The Public Executioner!
I still recall the moment earlier in my career when a leader who clearly reveled in leading public executions, used his power and a great command of words to humiliate an individual who had drawn his ire by asking a question about one of his policies. This was at a sales meeting, and the verbal execution continued for two days, sometimes spontaneously generating to fill dead air.
While the boss seemed to gain strength over time, the subject of his attention, a young and in my opinion, a sharp and inquisitive rep, melted into a puddle of human goo. I can’t tell you how many lessons we all drew from that experience. I literally recall vowing to never do that to another human being when it was my day to be in charge.
Most of Us Have Had Close Encounters with Lousy Leaders
I’ve long since concluded that I’m not alone in gaining some great insights on what not to do from lousy leaders. When interviewing for Practical Lessons in Leadership, we were surprised at the number of examples of miserable leaders that served as a kind of opposite inspiration for people.
The result for us in the book was a section devoted to “The Really Bad Habits of Ineffective Leaders,” where we attempted to name and describe the personas of some of these characters.
Perhaps you’ve met them:
- The All Talk, No Action Leader-loves the sound of his/her voice, babble, babble
- The Never-Make-A-Decision Leader-holds everyone hostage out of fear of being wrong.
- The Game-Playing, Fork-Tongued Boss-always screwing with you and will lie to save his hide
- The Public Humiliator-there’s more than one of these characters…they eviscerate the working environment as well as people.
- The I’m Your Best Buddy Manager-until he’s not. It’s just a matter of time.
- The Micro-Manager-not quite evil, but very destructive and debilitating
And my favorite,
- The Assassin. This one is the most dangerous. He/she plots the corporate kills with cold-hearted thoroughness, pulling the trigger and then slipping back into the office culture without being noticed. They are master politicians and manage to often stay above suspicion while plying their trade. Others know and sense it, but often the higher-ups don’t see this side of the person. Beware.
The Bottom-Line:
OK, aside from the cathartic benefits of railing at some bad leaders and bad leader archetypes, there is a point here. You can turn a truly bad and hopefully temporary experience into a positive learning situation.
At some point you won’t work for or next to this person, so pay close attention to the impact that his/her odious behaviors have on individuals, groups, overall morale and of course performance, and then silently vow never to do it that way.
When it’s your day at the head of the line, remember that vow.
Leadership Caffeine for the Week: Too Much Time with the Wrong People
Filed under: Career, Leadership, Leadership Caffeine, Leadership Skills, Leading Change, Making Decisions, Management Education, Middle Management, Not-For-Profit Leadership, Performance, Talent Management, Values, Your Professional Development "To Do" List
My biggest mistakes as a leader occurred as a result of spending way too much time attempting to change two people. I was young, new to the formal leadership scene and convinced that with my help and guidance, these two talented individuals would certainly shed their dysfunctional and toxic behaviors.
Wow, was I wrong!
After a lot of time, money, coaching, counseling and training, one lawsuit and one person storming out never to be seen again, along with untold amounts of collateral damage to the team and my own credibility as a leader, I had learned my lesson. People do not fundamentally change their nature.
I’ve been accused of sounding cynical and jaded as a result of my own early misfires, and perhaps I am. Nonetheless, I learned in a painful way why I needed to hire slowly and fire fast and have been well served incorporating this approach since learning those painful lessons.
In workshop settings, I present appropriately sanitized versions of those now two-decade old cases and it is fascinating to watch people make my same mistakes over and over again. Without getting into too much detail, both cases include talented individuals that wreak havoc on teams through their approaches. They are toxic, but they are both so freaking talented at their jobs, that it is easy for people and their manager to excuse their behaviors. “That’s just Bob,” or “That’s just Suzy.” In essence, the manager and those around them become their enablers and excusers.
After reviewing the case and debating “what to do” in small groups, I invariably get these responses:
-Create a new position
-Put him/her in a different role
-More coaching
Almost no one suggests firing the individuals until I play the annoying devil’s advocate on the above suggestions.
The unfortunate reality is that many managers are unprepared to deal with the “brilliant problem-child” character and they fall victim to the same fate as the erstwhile frog in the “Parable of the Scorpion and the Frog.”
Sidebar: In case you haven’t heard it: Scorpion needs a ride across a pond and asks the frog to carry him over on his back. Frog at first says, “No, you’ll sting me and we’ll both die and what purpose would that serve? Scorpion says, “No I won’t, I’ve changed.” Frog thinks about it for a while, says, “OK, jump on.” The frog starts swimming across the pond, gets halfway, the scorpion stings him and as he’s going down, he asks, “Why did you do that?” The Scorpion responds, “I can’t help it, it’s my nature.”
The Bottom Line for Now:
You cannot change people. They have to want to change and unfortunately, deep, lasting and significant change is rare indeed. Like the scorpion above, people don’t change their nature.
You are in danger of spending too much time with the wrong people. Cut it out. Focus on those that are striving to learn and grow.
Hire very, very slowly and fire fast. You’ll make fewer critical mistakes this way.
Management Lessons From the Memphis Belle-Rule #1
Filed under: Career, Crisis Leadership, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Life and Business, Management Education, Management Innovation, Professional Growth
Note from Art: It is a pleasure and a privilege to have Eric Lieberman publishing his Management Lessons from the Memphis Belle as a guest author here at Management Excellence. I had the pleasure of working for Eric and the co-creator of the Rules, Paul Byrne, and it is exciting to see the wisdom that helped us navigate so many challenges come to life here on the blog. Just as the world waited eagerly for the next installment from Dickens to learn the fate of Little Nell, I predict you’ll find yourself looking forward to future installments of these creative, powerful and practical rules for managing and leading.
Sometimes the power of a rule is found in its exceptions
When my father learned that I had been drafted by a board of directors to lead a failing software company through a financial turnaround, he reacted: “But, what do you know about running a business?”
The words stung – but he was right: I knew nothing. I’d been an attorney for a wide variety of businesses for years – but had never been responsible for a bottom line, never done a budget, never managed people and had never created a strategic plan!
I began looking everywhere I could for advice. I devoured business and management books by the carload. Most often, I found good counsel in the talented people – like Art Petty – that surrounded me. They brought the experience and skills to the corporate table that I lacked. But, the single most unusual fount of wisdom came one night when my CFO, Paul Byrne, and I drank a bottle of Thompson’s Bourbon Whiskey in the corporate house we shared in Wisconsin and watched the 1990 movie The Memphis Belle.
The namesake of the movie is an Army B-17 WWII bomber (“Flying Fortress”) whose crew had flown 24 missions into enemy territory. According to military policy, the crew would return home if they returned safely from their 25th mission. The movie tells the story of that final mission.
We were in the early days of our trench warfare trying to save the company, so it was natural that we felt a kinship with the pilot and crew of the Belle. As we drank and watched, we began to discover business rules and management lessons within the war-movie plot. By the time we were done, we had Ten Rules of Management From The Memphis Belle. Then, Paul came up with an 11th. I cussed and said “you can’t just have an odd number like 11” – so we replayed the movie in our heads and thought of 9 more.
And thus we discovered the 20 Lessons From The Memphis Belle. We had them printed up on little cards and handed them out to employees. We gifted them to strategic partners and customers. We printed them on posters and hung them in our offices. When we ran into a hard issue in the business we would refer to the Rules: more often than not there was a rule that was right on point. Each time we’d be amazed, but then we’d say: “Ah! The Rules know all!”
I credit these rules with getting me through difficult times. Even today, after leaving the company upon accomplishing a turnaround and eventual sale, I see the continued applicability of these rules to the difficult times we face today. And so, when Art offered some of his blog space for me to do “my thing”, I jumped at the chance to share these rules with a broader audience.
Today, and in weeks to come, I am going to share the rules with you, describe their origin in the movie and illustrate their applicability with some real-world stories. its not mandatory – but you might think about renting the movie and watching it along with these articles.
Ironically, rule number one echoes my father’s comments to me:
Rule No. 1: Don’t pretend to do jobs you’re not trained for!
Val, the bombardier of the Belle, boasts that he has medical training. But when one of his crew-mates is seriously wounded by enemy gunfire, the bombardier must admit to having had far less medical expertise than he had claimed. Val proposes that the only way to save the wounded crew member is to parachute him into enemy hands and hope that he is rushed to a hospital. “Bad plan” say the rest of the crew, and the bombardier successfully treats his wounded mate despite his fear and sense of inadequacy.
Despite his lack of training, Val had the courage and resolve to succeed.
It doesn’t fare so well for another crew member that wants to try his untrained hand at one of the big on-board machine guns. Convincing the real gunner to let him try, he loses control of the gun and slices through another B-17 sending it crashing to the ground in flames and killing its crew.
Sometimes, it is just plain dumb and dangerous to put people in charge that don’t know what they are doing. But, sometimes…
When I was picked to run the company, I clearly didn’t appear to be a person with the right qualifications. I didn’t have the usual training or experience to accomplish what I needed to do. And yet, the board saw in me certain strengths and qualities that they valued more than traditional qualifications. For example, an old law partner told them that I was a “workaholic, he will not rest until the job is done”. And, they made a good call: I succeeded!
I had a young man working for me who was simply an outstanding person. He’d started in the company as a staff guy supporting the company’s internal computer systems and worked his way up the ladder to head the IT department. Despite his technology training, he proved to be a “Jack of all trades”. He was loyal to the company, a great leader and had a “can do” spirit that was unbelievable. Point him in the direction of a mission – and he would accomplish it without fail! I recognized his talents superseded any particular training he had, and I was able to deploy him in a variety of key company positions well beyond IT services. He was a big contributor to the success of the company. If I had limited him to his trained position – IT – I wouldn’t have been able to take advantage of the broader range of skills and talent that this “Jack” had.
Lesson Learned:
When you have a mission to complete, a task to be accomplished or a job to be filled, take inventory of the candidates and their qualifications. At times, on-the-job training might just be inappropriate. Be alert, though, to circumstances that require betting on a candidate that may be non-traditional. Before you write off someone for a position or a mission, figure out whether they have the courage, the mettle, the “right stuff” to succeed in spite of your perception that they lack the obvious qualifications for the job. Always consider whether the obvious qualifications for a job are really the true qualities that will define success. Don’t simply evaluate candidates – always test the premises of your qualifications.
Next time: Rule #2: Don’t Applaud the Event (especially good news) before it happens!
About Eric Lieberman: Eric Lieberman writes from his home in Evanston, Illinois and is available for comments and consultations and can be reached via e-mail. by writing ejlieberman@gmail.com. Click here for Eric’s personal website and resume.
My Book
The desktop reference to leadership success whether you are starting out or starting over.
Art Petty
Welcome to Management Excellence where the focus is on building better leaders and creating high performance organizations.Building Better Leaders
Art Petty's Building Better Leaders programs in Leadership, Management and Developing as a Senior Contributor offer powerful and practical guidance for motivated professionals.
All programs available on-site in group format and select programs available in a distance learning PLUS personalized mentoring format.
Visit Building Better Leaders to find a program to help you or your team move forward. And don't forget to subscribe to the Building Better Leaders Leadership Tip of the Day.
Management Excellence Tools
Download the Management Excellence Guide to Effective Trade Show Marketing. What's Your Strategy & Execution (STREX) Quotient? Download and use the survey to help you gauge your organization's Strategy & Execution effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.e-book-Leadership and the Project Manager - Developing the Skills that Fuel High Performance Download the pdf or go to the e-book pages on this site and contribute to the conversation
Blog Subscriptions
Connect With Me On
E-Newsletter Mailing List
Join my e-newsletter mailing list and receive the latest in best-practices content for leadership, sales & marketing and strategy.