For years I have seen first hand organizations struggling to survive and hit their objectives, and usually it is because their priorities are not aligned. The aligned could be just that they don't agree internally, or worse yet, it could be that their formula for success is founded upon a self gain strategy.
Let's look at a proven methodology that increases client satisfaction, employee/team member satisfaction and provides for a sustainable environment for growth for all stakeholders involved. This can be used in just about any type of organization that is a for-profit group.
This is what I call the CPF principle and I first started implementing it as my key philosophy, and team expectation set, about 15 years ago. The CPF principle is really very straightforward, 3 key things you must do as a leader to promote success and sustainability. Three simple words, yet three challenging propositions.
C = Client
P = Profit
F = Fun
The big idea is that if accomplished, the client is happy, your group is making money and everyone is having fun doing it.
That's it, it is that simple, right. Well, we will take a look at each of these in further detail in the coming posts ahead.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Excellence in everything and in everything, excellence.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Well, I believe it is the chicken, but that isn't the point. The point is that both are chickens, yet one begins the process.
So, which comes first, doing everything in an excellent manner or expecting excellence in everything and from everybody, and therefore you get excellence in everything? Just like with the chicken, you can make a solid argument either way. For our purposes of looking at a better way to lead, it is the latter.
Certainly, doing things in an excellent manner is a great course of action and will yield great results. Yet sustaining excellence in everything, and from everybody, requires that we expect excellence. We know what we want, we know what excellence looks, feels and sounds like, and in all things, that is what we expect. Then, from there, we perform and expect performance from our team, that will only be at or above that level. It isn't about tasks, or doing one thing well, it is about doing all things well.
My son is a golfer and strives to play in school and beyond. He is starting to learn the difference between enjoying golf and being a golfer. If you have ever watched pro golf you realize how small the difference is between a good shot and a great shot. The difference between first place and not getting paid for that tournament can be as small as 4 or 5 shots a round. Average golfers want to be good and shoot in the 80's. Pro golfers practice dilegently, for hours a day, expecting great results, shooting in the 60's. They work with coaches, watching film of their swing, making adjustments, all to ensure that the results are excellent. When the outcome falls short, they go back and adjust again.
Is that how you work, coach, mentor, lead your family or team? Do you expect great results, in everything and from everyone? When the outcome falls short do you reflect, learn and aim to improve?
In order to be a great leader, to create a following that delivers better results you must expect excellence. Being average or as good as a competitor isn't enough. Trying to keep clients from complaining isn't enough. When things fail, making excuses isn't enough.
Start expecting excellence and when you don't get it, ask why. Start to learn and improve the daily practice and never lower the bar. People tend to relax to the place where comfortable, make sure that is in the excellence zone, or take them back out the practice range.
So, which comes first, doing everything in an excellent manner or expecting excellence in everything and from everybody, and therefore you get excellence in everything? Just like with the chicken, you can make a solid argument either way. For our purposes of looking at a better way to lead, it is the latter.
Certainly, doing things in an excellent manner is a great course of action and will yield great results. Yet sustaining excellence in everything, and from everybody, requires that we expect excellence. We know what we want, we know what excellence looks, feels and sounds like, and in all things, that is what we expect. Then, from there, we perform and expect performance from our team, that will only be at or above that level. It isn't about tasks, or doing one thing well, it is about doing all things well.
My son is a golfer and strives to play in school and beyond. He is starting to learn the difference between enjoying golf and being a golfer. If you have ever watched pro golf you realize how small the difference is between a good shot and a great shot. The difference between first place and not getting paid for that tournament can be as small as 4 or 5 shots a round. Average golfers want to be good and shoot in the 80's. Pro golfers practice dilegently, for hours a day, expecting great results, shooting in the 60's. They work with coaches, watching film of their swing, making adjustments, all to ensure that the results are excellent. When the outcome falls short, they go back and adjust again.
Is that how you work, coach, mentor, lead your family or team? Do you expect great results, in everything and from everyone? When the outcome falls short do you reflect, learn and aim to improve?
In order to be a great leader, to create a following that delivers better results you must expect excellence. Being average or as good as a competitor isn't enough. Trying to keep clients from complaining isn't enough. When things fail, making excuses isn't enough.
Start expecting excellence and when you don't get it, ask why. Start to learn and improve the daily practice and never lower the bar. People tend to relax to the place where comfortable, make sure that is in the excellence zone, or take them back out the practice range.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
A spirit of leadership
The world seems to view our leaders as those that just have spirits of courage, of risk, of vision and those that have made it. The world is enamored with celebrity and those that become rich, even if what they do is a fad, or materialistic. The headlines are on scandals and stock markets rushes and on how much money someone did or didn't bring in. The world celebrates fame and money, and highlights those that WIN at the success game. Leaders tend to be described with phrases and words such as: powerful, dominant, aggressive, no mercy, a mover and shaker, a wheeler and dealer and the like.
Love, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, these are words that you rarely hear to describe leaders. I have actually been told not to use those words in marketing at companies, they sound too fluffy. I was told they were too personal and should be saved for families and parents with children, lovers, but not adjectives to describe our companies and certainly not our vision or our leaders, right?
Nothing could be further from the truth!
When you search history, and not the timeline of this week on Facebook, you will fine the best leaders EVER possessed these characteristics as part of their inner beings, in other words, their spirit. From Jesus Christ to Dr. Martin Luther King, from Abraham Lincoln to Mother Teresa, from a long time loving foster parent to your favorite pastor, they all shared this spirit.
A spirit that showed their care for others in love. A spirit that showed their wanting for what was best by exercising patience not just pusuasiveness. A spirit of doing what was right, not popular, but always righteous. A spirit to lead by being kind, good and gentle, always acting with self control. They didn't "lose it". Each of them worked tirelessly, for the cause of who they led, without pomp and circumstance and always with critics.
Take time now to reflect on if these words described as the ideal spirit of leadership. This "spirit" of leadership, is what comes from within you, naturally, without hesitation. It isn't what you want to be or how you want to act, it is what you actually do and say. Be honest with yourself and see where you can improve.
How do you react to conflict. Is it with with anger, bitterness, and malice? Do you have words that are gentle to heal, or do you speak with slander and hatred when your ideas are challenged? Take time, have the heart check and become a leader that has a spirit of true leadership and you will find yourself in some great company.
Love, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, these are words that you rarely hear to describe leaders. I have actually been told not to use those words in marketing at companies, they sound too fluffy. I was told they were too personal and should be saved for families and parents with children, lovers, but not adjectives to describe our companies and certainly not our vision or our leaders, right?
Nothing could be further from the truth!
When you search history, and not the timeline of this week on Facebook, you will fine the best leaders EVER possessed these characteristics as part of their inner beings, in other words, their spirit. From Jesus Christ to Dr. Martin Luther King, from Abraham Lincoln to Mother Teresa, from a long time loving foster parent to your favorite pastor, they all shared this spirit.
A spirit that showed their care for others in love. A spirit that showed their wanting for what was best by exercising patience not just pusuasiveness. A spirit of doing what was right, not popular, but always righteous. A spirit to lead by being kind, good and gentle, always acting with self control. They didn't "lose it". Each of them worked tirelessly, for the cause of who they led, without pomp and circumstance and always with critics.
Take time now to reflect on if these words described as the ideal spirit of leadership. This "spirit" of leadership, is what comes from within you, naturally, without hesitation. It isn't what you want to be or how you want to act, it is what you actually do and say. Be honest with yourself and see where you can improve.
How do you react to conflict. Is it with with anger, bitterness, and malice? Do you have words that are gentle to heal, or do you speak with slander and hatred when your ideas are challenged? Take time, have the heart check and become a leader that has a spirit of true leadership and you will find yourself in some great company.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)