Leadership Solutions

Fire Drill Leadership

Some crises don't just happen.

They require significant preparation.

Here are three possibilities, with suggestions on how to avoid them.

1) People Cause Them.

Let's start with the obvious one: People make mistakes. Sometimes mistakes happen because we surprise ourselves. Other times mistakes happen because of careless acts, distractions, or a lack of essential skills.

Better: Invest in training to build the best skills possible. Often good technique helps avoid making mistakes.

2) People Earn Them.

This is a matter of priorities. People ignore important tasks until they accumulate into an urgent crises. Then something that could have been handled easily becomes a major problem.

Better: Attend to important tasks before they become urgent. This requires giving high priority to ordinary tasks that prepare for desired results in the future.

3) People Name Them.

A crisis is often a matter of definition. Some people consider every surprise to be a crisis. As a result, they live in a continual state of chaos. This is stressful and inefficient.

Better: Be realistic; it may not be a crisis. In fact, every urgent situation is an opportunity to excel under pressure.

Key Point: Rather than excel at crisis management, great leaders excel at crisis prevention.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

PS: My workshops show how to manage time to prevent crises.

Bad Economy Poison

Here's a sure way to go backwards during a bad economy.

    Act poor.

This includes:

1) Stop Growing.

Become conservative. Avoid anything new. Cut back on research. Refuse new ideas. Avoid risks. Wait for good news.

2) Stop Learning.

Eliminate training. Stop collecting new ideas. Give up reading. Stay away from conferences and professional meetings.

3) Stop Investing.

Focus entirely on the present. Ignore opportunities. Stop building for the future. Become immersed in day-to-day activities.

4) Stop Hoping.

Spread dismal expectations. Focus on blame. Forbid optimism. Act unhappy. Complain. Worry. Worry some more.

5) Stop Trying.

Give up. Stay in your office. Avoid other people. Do nothing. Replace work with trivia.

Guaranteed: This strategy will ruin any organization.

Better: Use a slow economy to increase learning, revise operational systems, and invest in activities that create success in the future.

Key Point: A slow economy is a time for aggressive renewal. This includes learning new skills. Call me. I can help.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

New Interview Question

Here's a new interview question.

"What is your pet like?"

Of course, this assumes that the candidate owns a pet with a personality, such as a dog or a cat. Pets such as mold, rocks, or worms may not work here.

This question is useful because the answer could be a description of the candidate's inner self.

For example, I own a cat, named Olivia Felini.

The other day I noticed that I kept telling Olivia that she is:

1) A Good Cat.

I tell Olivia that she is a "good cat" dozens of times every day. Why? Because I think I'm a good person. I treat others with respect, offer help when it's requested, and feel compassion for others.

2) A Smart Cat.

I praise everything that Olivia does as being smart. Why? Because I think I'm smart. I do smart things, such as write five blog articles each week, conduct workshops on leadership skills, and help leaders get results from their meetings.

3) A Busy Cat.

I tell Olivia that she is busy working on projects. Why? Because I think I'm busy. As an entrepreneur, I'm always working on projects related to my business.

Now, there's a subtle point here. Since I tell Olivia that she has these qualities, I treat her as if she had them. As a result, she seems to exhibit these qualities.

In addition, I'm reminding myself that I'm good, smart, and busy each time that I praise Olivia. So both of us receive an ego boost.

Today's Question: What is your pet like?

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

Thank You DuPont

Decades ago DuPont taught me a lesson that might have saved my life.

When I worked for them in the mid 70s, they stressed safety in all aspects of the job. This included holding a handrail while going up or down stairs.

The other day, that lesson paid off.

I was about to go downstairs when my shoe caught the carpet. Fortunately, I was holding the handrail and thus was able to prevent myself from falling to the tile floor below.

Besides being a safety reminder, there's an important point here.

It is: It always pays to follow safe procedures.

Some people ignore this.

For example, some people talk on cell phones while driving, even when it's illegal (in California, anyway) and a recognized cause of accidents.

Or some people wander across streets, even though everyone has been told to look both ways before crossing a street since childhood.

And so on -- I could fill pages with a long list of similar bad habits.

And I'm sure some people would feel offended because this threatens their independence. That is, they don't like others telling them what to do.

First, I'm a strong advocate of independence.

I'm also a strong advocate of responsibility.

This matters because some forms of independence neglect responsibility.

That is, the people who exercise their independence by taking risks or breaking rules, still expect to be rescued when they have an accident. Then this puts a burden on the rest of us in the form of taxes or medical insurance premiums.

So here's a new approach to independence: Be different by using common sense and following the rules.

What do you think?

Could this catch on as the new independent expression of individuality?

Key Point: Independence requires responsibility.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

Bikes for Big Kids

If you miss riding your old Big Wheel tricycle, here is good news.

Gregory deGouveia in Chico, CA, is making custom bikes for adults.

For example, here is The Kitten.

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 Shown with permission from Gregory deGouveia

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He also makes the "Bigger Wheel," a four person "Lizard," and a "Double Decker."

This is a wonderful example of what can be done with something that everyone takes for granted.

We have all seen bicycles. But no one has seen bicycles like these.

So, what do you think?

How can you take something ordinary and change it just enough so that it's extraordinary?

Key Point: Some inventions come from combining ideas.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

Mistakes Made to Order

It's difficult to admit this.

After all, I'm supposed to be an expert on leadership skills and things like that.

But I'm also a human being.

So I make mistakes -- not many -- Yet once in a while I really surprise myself.

These mistakes prove to be useful because I'll spend a considerable amount of time after the notable ones reflecting on what I did to cause the trouble.

So each mistake actually leads to two benefits.
 

1) They help me learn how to avoid making the same mistake.

2) They help you because I add the lessons learned to my workshops, presentations, and articles.

We can digress a bit to recognize that this puts a new twist on making mistakes. Since I'm using the lessons to enhance my programs, making mistakes now becomes a business activity.

This brings us to two possibilities:

1) If you make tons of mistakes and want to keep making them, start a speaking business so that you can sell the lessons that you learn. You can then tell the people affected by your mistakes that you're making them for your business. That might even make your mistakes more acceptable. (Note: Exercise some caution here because this is like telling the IRS that your month in Tahiti was a business trip.)

Or,

2) If you rather avoid mistakes, then hire a speaker (e.g., me) to show you how to avoid them. I've already done the hard work for you. And I've packaged the lessons in an enjoyable, readily understandable format so that you can use them immediately.

Call me. I can help.

Consider: Why bother to make mistakes when someone else has already made them for you?

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

PS: My wonderful workshops show a lifetime of wisdom.

Finally

How many tasks do finish with the remark, "Finally!"

Most of us have many of them.

Yesterday I FINALLY posted my February newsletter in the Newsletters Archive on my web site. I can say "finally" because this newsletter was issued almost two weeks ago.

So why was there a delay?

1) Priorities.

All of us have lists of things that we could do, need to do, and want to do. Completing these tasks would take six lifetimes. So we have to be selective in when we take care of these tasks.

The Point: Use priorities to structure your activities. Always work on the highest priority tasks first. This means some tasks will wait and others will be dropped. After all, we have only one life time.

2) Complexity.

Modern business is more complex than ever. As an entrepreneur, I can think of more things to do than I could ever finish. On one hand this is good because I have an inventory of possibilities to choose from. On the other hand, this is a problem because too many of these tasks appear as essential.

The Point: We need to recognize that complexity is a major component of every business. Thus, knowing our mission and purpose is more important than ever. These help us set priorities on how we allocate our time.

3) Limitations.

We wish this were otherwise, but it's true: We're human beings. That means we have physical, mental, and emotional limitations. And so it's impossible to do everything (much as might want to). Recognizing this is important because attempting to do too much will destroy personal effectiveness.

The Point: Manage your personal resources to maximize your effectiveness. This includes allocating time for work (obviously) and also scheduling time for rest. We must make recreation and renewal essential parts of our day, every day.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

PS: My workshop on Time Management shows proven techniques for setting a direction and managing priorities.

Going Backwards Faster

Here's an expansion of a powerful idea that I wrote about in my December 2008 Newsletter. 

The idea was: Your inner self determines your external world.

This works both ways:

1) Positive: If your inner self is characterized by good things such as courage, optimism, and abundance, you will attract success.

In this case, the examples are straight forward. If you treat everyone with respect, you will find that others treat you with respect. If you support others, you will find that others support you. And so on.

2) Negative: If your inner self is characterized by fears, you will attract more of exactly what you fear.

Here the process is less direct. In fact, most people are unable to relate the results they obtain to their actions.

So let's create an example. Suppose that you are afraid of being controlled by others. Then, (perhaps) you might attempt to prevent others from controlling you by controlling them. You could, for example, use criticism (often wrapped as advice) to put others on the defensive.

Since no one likes criticism, people will:

a) Protect themselves. They will engage in conversation domination tactics that make it difficult to work in criticism. Or they may bring up issues that distract you into talking about other things.

b) Counterattack. People will respond with arguments, anger, or counter criticisms. Such tactics use punishment to prevent further criticism. 

c) Withdraw. People will end the relationship. Eventually, they will get fed up with your attempts to control them, and they will leave.

As a result, the person who was afraid of being controlled ends up being subjected to more control. This control came in the form of manipulations, attacks, or isolation.

This brings us to the importance of working on your inner self.

Key Point: Life becomes wonderful outside when it's healthy on the inside.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

February Check Up

Here we are in the middle of February.

So, how is the year going?

Here are questions to check your progress.

1) In general.

What have you done with the past six weeks? How does this compare with the goals that you set in January? What have you changed? Increased? Decreased? What did you start? Stop? Build? Write?

2) Career.

How did you add value to your work? What have you done to become more promotable? Worthy of a raise? More employable? Better known by decision makers? 

3) Learn.

What books have you read? What courses have you taken? What seminars have you attended? What skills have you improved?

4) Relationships.

Who did you meet? How have you advanced your most important relationships? How have you helped others? What dialogues do you have in progress?

5) Self.

How have you improved? What changes have you made? How have you grown? What have you done to increase courage? Kindness? What new experiences have you given yourself?

Notice that personal growth is a continuous project.

Consider: What are your plans for the next six weeks?

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

Who Dat?

Even after a week, people are still asking, "Who dat?"

 

It's a good question.

 

You see, it has an very important meaning.

 

Of course, we know "Dat" refers to the New Orleans Saints, who won the Super Bowl.

 

By the way, on the Monday after, someone asked me, "Did you watch the Super Bowl?"

 

I said, "Of course. I'm a man. If I had missed the game, they'd take away my duct tape."

 

You must also know that the Saints were the underdog -- they were expected to lose.

 

But they won. And in doing so, they sent a message of hope to all of us.

 

Because we're the underdog.

 

We live ordinary lives. We struggle against huge forces. We often lose. In fact, we come into many contests where someone else is expected to win.

 

And so, when an underdog wins, it shows that there's hope for the rest of us.

 

All we have to do is show up. Then play the game with all our heart.

 

Key Point: When they ask, "Who dat?" tell them, "Dat's me."

 

Much success,

 

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300