Leadership from Tribes

Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead.

The scarcity makes leadership valuable. If everyone tries to lead all the time, not much happens. It’s discomfort that creates the leverage that makes leadership worthwhile.

In other words, if everyone could do it, they would, and it wouldn’t be worth much.

It’s uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers.
It’s uncomfortable to propose an idea that might fail.
It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo.
It’s uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.

When you identify the discomfort, you’ve found the place where a leader is needed.

If you’re not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it’s almost certain you’re not reaching your potential as a leader.

Thoughts on Aust Open Mens Final

The fifth set, for those of you who saw it, was a total mental collapse. The reason it hurt so bad was that we have all been there. No, I know I have not played an Australian Open final, but we have all experienced the disappointment that Roger Federer felt after throwing away the match.

It is pretty daunting when you have no one else but yourself to blame for a loss, which is one of the reasons that tennis can teach us.

Roger Federer rose even further in peoples esteem for him on Sunday night. Why? Because he became even more humane. His opponent Rafael Nadal seemed almost mechanically calm. The latter is a mental ghost for Roger Federer. A tennis nemesis who doesn't suffer the butterflies that totally undermined Roger's backhand in the fifth set.

Now, there were a few things at play during the match which I thought were interesting from a performance and psychological perspective which relates to how we all perform under pressure.

1. Rafael Nadal had played a 5.5 hour match less than 48 hours before. All commentators and spectators assumed that if the match went to 5 sets, that Rafael Nadal would tire, and Roger would win.

In the fourth set, Roger was trying to tire his opponent and I sensed Roger might have also believed that Rafael Nadal would falter sooner or later. He did not. Never underestimate the people around you. Expect them to be at their best when it matters, and prepare accordingly.

2. Even the best, most hardened, athletic, iron-willed mind-champions like Roger Federer sometimes gets it wrong. It's ok - it literally does happen to the best of us. What is interesting is how we bounce back.

3. Sometimes, emotions force us to let our guards down. It was heart-breaking to see Roger lose his cool, cry for 45 seconds on live tv without uttering a word, and with zero composure. It was the total opposite to what we have come to expect of him. Yet it made him even more human in my eyes and it showed me how much this meant to him. I hope he uses this as motivational fuel to take the match to Nadal on his home-turf - on clay at Roland Garros and that Federer may conquer his first French Open.

4. It is testing times for all of us. We have all experienced upsets, disappointments and losses for which we have noone but ourselves to blame. Roger knew that he could have won the match but that he lost his cool in the fifth set and that he gave Rafa the match. It was an exercise in personal leadership and Rafa came out stronger. The sobering thing is how we show up, whether we blame the outside world, or whether we seize our fate by both hands and stake a claim, that no matter what the external circumstances, I will come out victorious.

Leading a team

• Develop a plan now with your key people - those you can trust who will add value and compliment your team. A plan to grow, diversify or acquire.
• Great attitude with sales people right now is vital. They must have focus and be the best problem solvers in the market. You will also need to run regular 'energy' sessions with them as well as maintaining accountability.
• Hold regular mini meetings with your leaders / managers to discuss good news and review your 'metrics'. These will save lots of time during the day and keep everyone in touch and on the same page. Your people will interrupt each other considerably less during the day.
• Run weekly high energy team sessions. Effective team meetings provide communications, clarity and embrace the power of focused collective intelligence.
• Make attendance mandatory and on time with no excuses - disciplined organisations exude success!!
• All meetings should be short and highly structured. Their primary purpose is to create energy and refocus the team. Problem solving can be done off line.
  

The leader needs to DRIVE the process! Otherwise it will be driven by external forces.

Yes We Can

"yes we can" is both an affirmation of optimism and the essential claim of the competent.

When the slogan is rooted in a record of accomplishment - when tomorrow's yes-we-can is backed up by yesterdays yes-we-did - confidence and competence begin to feed on each other.

Leadership by Obama

"I dont think there is some magic trick here. I think I've got a good nose for talent, so I hire really good people. And I've got a pretty healthy ego, so I'm not scared of hiring the smartest people, even when they're smarter than me. And I have a low tolerance of nonsense and turf battles and game-playing and I send that message very clearly.

If you have really smart people who are all focused on the same mission, you can get some things done"