Dream and Act Big: Leadership Caffeine for the Week of April 5, 2009
Filed under: "To Do" List, Career, Leadership, Leadership Caffeine
This week’s jolt of energy is taken from a great interview with Jim Collins in the April, 2009 issue of Inc. Magazine.
Collins connected with Inc. editor, Bo Burlingham to share views on the state of our world, building great businesses and entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial focus is relevant for many that have either been pushed into this world through downsizing or are considering it as they grow weary of the uncertainties of corporate life.
The result is a feast of insightful, refreshing and invigorating quotes. Oh, and I’m taking my motivation from Collins with a cup of the always bold and invigorating Sumatra Mandehling Gayo Mountain from my favorite local roaster, Conscious Cup.
Just a few selected quotes and observations from Collins:
-On what the leading entrepreneurs of the past three decades have in common:
“They defined success on a very big scale.”
-Recalling a quote from Steve Jobs in the late 1980’s that captured the noble vision of entrepreneurship:
“We aren’t creating computers, we are creating bicycles for the minds.”
-On the choice that people face on working for others or working for themselves:
“I see entrepreneurship as more of a life concept. We all make choices about how we live our lives. You can take a paint-by-numbers approach, or you can start with a blank canvas. Starting with a blank canvas is the only way to get a masterpiece, but you could also blow up.”
-On the emerging environment:
“We’re heading into a world characterized by big events, big forces, massive storms. We’re going to be vulnerable little specks high on the mountain when the storm hits out of nowhere. And if we’re not prepared, we’re going to die up there.”
-On why he’s not pessimistic in spite of the emerging environment:
“It is only in times like this that you get a chance to show your strength.”
“In the end, I think we need to have absolute faith in our ability to deal with whatever is thrown at us. And we need to have a complete, realistic paranoia that a lot can be thrown at us.”
-On the source of his optimism:
“A lot of it has to do with the young generation.” Quoting a general at West Point, “This is the most inspired and inspiring generation to come through West Point since 1945.”
“I’m hopeful precisely because of this generation of kids. I really think we ought to give them the keys as soon as we can.”
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Art’s comments:
First, bookmark the interview and read it from start to end. The selected quotes above barely do justice to the wisdom and inspiration that Collins has to offer in this article.
Second, consider how his guidance and observations can help you deal with your situation, whether you plan on being an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur.
Great things tend to flow from tough times and when people focus on defining success not necessarily in monetary terms but on a grand scale.
My own real world example in process: I’m working with a group to change the shape of volunteer management and volunteerism in our local community. Our emerging goal is nothing less than to transform Volunteer management practices in this country. Lofty yes, but doable? Absolutely.
The same lofty ambitions can drive for-profit organizations, but it requires thinking beyond success and focusing on significance.
And last and not least, I love his perspective on the younger generation. While the media focuses on what they describe as a: texting-obsessed, trophy-laden, what’s in it for me generation, I am with Collins in seeing the reality to be very different. (See my article: In Hopeful Praise of the Millennials.)
As you have occasion to work with, lead and support the development of this younger generation, perhaps it is time to think deeply about the challenges we have saddled them with and offer our support and hope instead of our criticism.
The Bottom-Line for the New Week:
OK, grab that second cup and go forth into the new week motivated to do something great. The longest journey starts of course with the first step, and the greatest monuments start with the first stone. Take that first step or lay down that cornerstone and dream big!
Can You Create A Mission-Driven Focus in a For-Profit Business?
Leaders from the top on down in Not-For-Profits hold an unfair advantage over their erstwhile counterparts in the For-Profit world. Managers in Not-for-Profit are driven by a powerful sense of purpose that delivers meaning and context for even the most mundane of activities. As one young Not-For-Profit manager in my recent Leadership Mastery workshop indicated, “I can’t imagine not having the mission to inspire and energize me everyday.”
My question: Can For-Profit organizations replicate the motivational and contextual power of “The Mission” through other proxies like goals, strategies, bonuses and targets all focused around competitors, financials and metrics like market-share and compound annual growth rate?
My short-answer: It’s hard to simulate a mission and develop a sense of purpose in an environment focused on issues that are significantly more mundane than human welfare. Difficult, but not impossible. I’ll explore some ideas for this below.
First, a sidebar on my observations about leading in Not-For –Profit:
Having spent my entire career in the For-Profit world, I learn something every time I have the good fortune to work with the dedicated professionals that staff and lead the organizations that do so much good in our communities. It’s refreshing to work with people laser-focused on serving their customers and motivated by the belief that they are making a tangible difference everyday.
I have also been impressed by the level of leadership maturity and sophistication that I see in the younger leaders in these organizations. Many Not-For-Profits run on volunteer workforces, and honing great leadership skills at a young age is a survival skill for a manager in this environment. The sophistication and good practices that I have seen displayed by managers with less than five years experience are impressive. Important habits and concepts including professional development, goal-setting, providing feedback and establishing genuine connections are well understood and readily applied by many of these young leaders.
Last and not least, it’s hard to look at the good work being done in many Not-For-Profits and not acknowledge that these dedicated and capable leaders might earn considerably more money if they were plying their profession in a profit-driven organization. The skills that they are developing and honing are the very skills critically needed by almost every organization attempting to grow and win in the market. And yet in many cases, the lure of money is not a driving force for those serving in Not-For-Profit.
What For-Profit Leaders Can Learn from Their Mission-Driven Counterparts:
- People thrive and commit when they feel a greater sense of purpose in their activities. Leaders in For-Profits must strive to connect the firm’s activities and offerings to the benefits that they provide to customers. Even seemingly mundane offerings contribute to improving someone’s life, making hard tasks easier or solving other problems. Leaders must connect the dots between these benefits and an employee’s reason-for-being.
- Mission statements should not be a gobbledygook of pie-in-the-sky motivations, but rather, brief, meaningful descriptions of the reason-for-being of an organization. Additionally, instead of the poster on the wall proclaiming the lame mission, the content and context of this mission should be taught, reinforced and referenced liberally. Just like corporate values, statements of mission are useless unless practiced and ultimately embedded in the organization’s DNA.
- Leaders should ply their trade as if they are operating with a volunteer workforce. Imagine having to walk in the door everyday and reach out to your employees, support their professional development, provide them with timely feedback, encourage them to strive for new levels and help them find the lessons-learned from mistakes. Armed with the context of “my workers are volunteers and it is my job to keep them happy, motivated, learning and here,” I suspect that many leaders will suddenly discover their true priorities.
- Just as people require context and purpose to do their best work, they tend to thrive in environments where success breeds more success and big, new challenges are viewed as great new opportunities. In my informal polling of several hundred managers over the past few months, I have only found a handful that feel as if they’ve been a part of a high-performance team at some point in their careers. What a shame. I suspect that most leaders don’t preoccupy on the notion that their goal is to create an environment that results in a high-performance team….one that is highly innovative or one that is operationally excellent (or both). Not-For-Profit leaders understand that the mission will only be successful if the team gets it right, and they naturally focus on the tasks needed to support team development.
- Many (not all) Not-For-Profit leaders stay close to their mission by working with and serving their clients in the community. Sometimes out of necessity and other times out of the sheer joy of serving, this is an outstanding way of staying Tuned- In to customers. For-Profit leaders would be well served to push away from the desk and spend some time helping and learning from their customers.
The Bottom-Line for Now:
Working in Not-For-Profit may not be for everyone, and in fact, while I’ve painted a picture with the positives that I have observed, there are many familiar challenges as well. Large organizations struggle with politics and bureaucracy, “lifers” suffer from chronic “We’ve always done it this way,” and turnover and burnout are common maladies plaguing many organizations.
However, in spite of overwhelming challenges and never-ending pursuit of funding, many of these organizations persevere, in large part due to the incredible dedication of the people working and leading at all levels. Most For-Profit environments lack the sense of purpose and mission that I’ve observed in Not-For-Profits, yet managers everywhere have the same set of tools at their disposal. For-Profit leaders are well served to take a few tips from their lower-paid and in many cases, more effective counterparts.
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