For the third time in a row, I am writing about the connection between leading and teaching. Maybe it is the time of year, with another school year ending. Whatever the cause, I continue to find great leadership lessons from the teachers in my children’s lives. This time the lesson came during a cross-country horseback riding clinic my daughter, Mary Kate, was participating in. To provide some context, Mary Kate rides a horse named Blackberry. Blackberry is mischievous and a bit nuts. He’s a wonderful horse, but if he were a was a high school boy he would probably spend a fair amount of time in detention. He has developed a reputation for his bad behavior. His owner refers to his antics as “B.B.B.B.ing” (i.e., Blackberry breaking bad big time). Around the barn, they call him Crackberry.
During the clinic last week, he was BBBBing. Mary Kate rode him like a champion. She maintained control and composure regardless of what he tried to do. He reared, refused jumps, and bucked numerous times, but Mary Kate stuck with it and prevailed . . . until the last course. There was one jump that he would not attempt. My daughter’s instructor, Laine, had encouraged her throughout the clinic. She had been providing constant support and guidance. Her confidence in Mary Kate never faltered. However, Laine realized that this jump had gotten into both the horse’s and the rider’s head, so she decided to step in.
Laine stopped Mary Kate and said, “You can’t let him do that. It isn’t safe for either of you.” Laine was direct and assertive, but she made sure Mary Kate knew it was because she cared about her and Blackberry. She was also very precise in what she wanted Mary Kate to do differently. After their conversation, Mary Kate dismounted and Laine took her place. She took Blackberry through the course several times demonstrating for Mary Kate what she needed to do and how to do it. By doing this, she showed Blackberry and Mary Kate that they could overcome this obstacle. Mary Kate remounted Blackberry, and they cleared that jump without incident.
We all face this dilemma as leaders. Knowing when to step in is hard enough, but doing so in a way that helps the subordinate grow and learn can seem impossible. I often feared that my actions would undermine a subordinate’s confidence or identity. Watching Laine with Mary Kate was enlightening. Laine’s approach was perfect. Her directness diffused the emotions. Her unwavering confidence bolstered Mary Kate’s. Her willingness to literally “take the reins” showed both horse and rider what it would take to succeed. She never sugar-coated things or tried to deny that the problem existed. Laine’s actions showed that leaders can intervene in a way that builds competence without eroding confidence.
We all know that as leaders we have a responsibility to help those we lead develop and grow. More often than not, our lessons just happen. We may have no idea that we are teaching something until the new behavior manifests itself. Last week, I had the pleasure of seeing this in action at my son’s guitar recital. His instructor primarily teaches piano, so when she arrived at the venue to find a strategic piano key broken, she was quite upset. Her students range from the very young performing for the first time to high school students ready to study music at the university level. She was uncertain whether they would be able to have the recital.
Just before the recital was to start, the teacher spoke with her students and their parents to see what they wanted to do. Everyone agreed that they should proceed. My wife is a pianist, and she said that this type of problem can be so disruptive as to make some pieces unplayable. For several students with pieces like this, the instructor offered them the option of not playing. Every student played on, and they all took it in stride. Some played through as best they could. Others played parts that were less affected by the malfunction. One particularly resilient young man started playing the piece as he had learned it. When it became unplayable, he shifted down an octave. When it was still unplayable, he shifted down one more octave. Nothing was going to stop this kid from playing the song that he had practiced so hard to learn.
I doubt the instructor ever intended to teach her students to be resilient, but she did. I also doubt she thinks of herself as a leader, but she is. Leadership isn’t about the title we carry or the position we hold. As leaders we are constantly teaching and helping others grow, but we may never realize what those lessons are until we see them in action.
Those Who Can Teach, Teach
“Those who can, do. Those who can’t do, teach.” I have always hated that expression. It belittles one of the most noble professions anyone could choose. However, I have recently come to see that there is a kernel of truth buried within it. That truth isn’t that teachers are unable to do things. Rather, it is that teaching requires an objectivity and perspective that is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve while we are consumed with doing that thing.
I learned this lesson while in the process of writing my recently released book, If You Will Lead. For almost a quarter of a century, I had been leading and managing people. I was successfully “doing” it. For several years before I started writing If You Will Lead, I had toyed with the idea of writing a book. I could never get traction. I knew generally what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t figure out how to say it.
My problem was that I was so focused on the doing that I was unable to articulate my ideas in a way that would help others learn. I could not teach. And I realized that stood in the way of more just writing my book. My inability to teach undermined my ability to lead. Teaching is integral to leading, because leadership is about helping others learn and grow.
This realization enabled me to see the truth within the lie, “Those who can’t do, teach.” It isn’t that they can’t do. Great teachers have the wisdom to recognize that to truly understand something in a way that they can teach others, they must maintain their perspective. They understand that when we are doing, we often get too close to something to see it in its entirety. By choosing not to do, they become better teachers.
As another school year comes to a close, take a moment to celebrate and appreciate those extraordinary leaders we call teachers. Thank them for what they do and for what they don’t. Learn from them. Consider how to gain the perspective you need to help those you lead to learn and grow. Think about how to become a better leader by doing less and teaching more.
Practicing What I Preach
There is one piece of advice I give to all of my clients – “Ask for help.” People want to help us solve the challenges that we face. Our friends and family do it because they care about us, and they want to see us succeed. Some people want to help us for less noble reasons. It may make them feel good about themselves. They may believe that helping us will make us more willing to help them when they need it. Regardless of the motivation, there are people willing to help if only we ask.
For some reason, I have been hesitant to follow my own advice. That’s not to say I haven’t received extraordinary help throughout the process of writing and publishing If You Will Lead. More often than not, the help has come from family, friends and colleagues offering their help, rather than my asking for it. Several friends have recently taken me to task for reluctance to ask for help. At their urging, I started sticking my toe in the water, and today I am taking the plunge.
I need your help. If You Will Lead is a reality. Local booksellers should have it on their shelves this week or next, and Amazon will be shipping pre-orders shortly. So here is my request for help. If you haven’t done so already, pre-order your copy today, and contact local booksellers to encourage them to stock If You Will Lead. So, there it is. I’m practicing what I preach. Thank you for your support.
After 3 Years & 2 Months, It’s Here!
If You Will Lead, avaialbe soon. Pre-order today!
WOW!!! That’s all I can say. After more than three years in the making, I am sitting in my office staring at my book. It isn’t just mine, because so many people made it a reality, but there it is, If You Will Lead by Doug Moran. There are only a handful of days that I can recall feeling this proud and pleased – the days my children were born, our wedding day, the day Laurie agreed to marry me. That’s about it. So thank you for sharing it with me.
One night back in March of 2008, I chose a new path for my life to take. Despite the challenges and difficulties, I knew that this book was going to be a reality. This book is a testament to most – if not all – of the If 16 Leadership Attributes. Creating something new started with self-discovery. It demanded knowing what I wanted to achieve. It required that I attract others to join me on my journey, and it meant building and retaining the trust of those who helped me make If You Will Lead real. It is only after seeing and feeling this book that I have come to understand how intertwined leadership and creativity truly are.
Leadership, American Idol Style vol. 1
A Principled Idol
Anyone familiar with American Idol understands that performance is everything. One bad night, and a contestant can be eliminated. It is the ultimate meritocracy, so contestants are loathe to do anything that could undermine a performance. Each week, contestants spend the time between shows selecting songs that play to their strengths and rehearsing them until they are near perfect.
Last week, one of this season’s nine finalists, Jacob Lusk, showed extraordinary character by putting his principles ahead of his ambitions. Jacob had chosen to sing Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” and he sang it exceptionally well during rehearsal. The more he thought about it, the more Jacob came to realize that the song was too inconsistent his values, so he decided to chose a different song – one with a message that was more aligned with what he believed.
This decision put him at a distinct disadvantage, yet he chose to live his values despite the personal risk. This young ambitious man made a choice. He put his values and beliefs ahead of his desire for achievement. We all can learn a powerful leadership lesson from Jacob Lusk. He showed the courage and character to do the right thing. Coincidentally, the song he picked instead was “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson. Clearly Jacob can look into the mirror and be proud that he lived his values when it mattered.
So what’s stopping us from doing the same?
A Tribute to an Unsung Leader
A one year ago today, the world lost a special person, Moe Moran. He was one of best people I’ve ever known, and he taught me much about life and leadership. He was my father and my friend, and I had the privilege to offer our family’s tribute at his funeral. Since then, many of people asked me to send them a copy of my remarks, and others have encouraged me to post them here. I hope learning a bit about this great, yet unsung leader will help you become a better one yourself.
Thank you for indulging me in a tribute to someone I love.
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Our Tribute to Moe Moran
Moe! That simple name for a great and wonderful man. Not great in the sense of titles or station or wealth. He never cared about any of that. Moe’s greatness was much deeper. His greatness reflected an inner light that drew people to him and made them love him. He was the real deal.
He was Moe to everyone. Those who didn’t know him would ask why we all called him Moe. Not Dad or Granddad, or Mr. Moran, or Commander Moran. The question implied an accusation of disrespect. Soon enough they too would be calling him Moe. He had that effect on people, and that was just who he always was.
Of course, there was that time when he was in grade school when his mother forced him to use the name Maurice. They had moved uptown from South Philly to West Philly, and Grandmom thought Moe didn’t fit their new community. Needless to say that the other kids from the neighborhood didn’t share Hettie’s opinion of the name Maurice. Add to it the bowtie she insisted he wear to school, and we are lucky Moe survived the second grade. Fortunately, she abandoned her efforts to rebrand Moe.
I promised that I would not stand up here and tell a lot stories about Moe or extol all of his virtues. That can wait until we get to the party. I expect to tell and hear quite a few.
What I do want to talk about are the qualities that best defined our Moe. Those things that we all knew and loved about him. The second reading today captures much of who Moe was. His life was a testament to Faith, Hope, and Love. Those three qualities go a long way to describing him, but there is one that is missing…Humility.
Moe was the essence of humility. He never thought of himself as something out of the ordinary. Moe was so humble that he never thought of himself at all. Humility was simply a part of who he was. It was only during his illness that we came to understand its depth and essence. It is easy to focus on the devastating effects of cancer, but there is one gift that cancer gives. Moe’s cancer gave us the time and sense of urgency to tell him things that we had always wanted him to know. Whenever we would tell him what we admired about him, he would respond, “I’m nothing special.” He just assumed most people lived as he did. His humility was a product of doing extraordinary things that he considered ordinary. It came from his Faith, his Hope and his Love. He never felt special, because these three came so naturally to him.
Faith…Moe was one of the most faith-filled people anyone ever knew. His belief in God was deeply personal. At the same time, he shared it with all. He lived his faith. He would have been a great priest. I’m not sure he could have handled that whole celibacy thing, but otherwise he would have been great. He lived his faith through his generosity, grace and love. He saw faith as a journey. Our faith is stronger because of Moe’s.
Hope. Moe was always hopeful. He never worried about things. He never suffered from insomnia. He said it was a sign of a clean conscience. That’s true, but it also reflected his deep and abiding hope. His hope and belief was evident in how he greeted us or said farewell. He would welcome us with genuine affection with “How are you brother?” or “What’s up shipmate.” He never ended a conversation without an “I love you.” or a “God bless you.” These were far more than words or filler. They were Moe’s hope for us. Another sign of Moe’s hopefulness was his presence. He enjoyed himself at whatever he was doing. He was content. He never thought about what was next.
Love, and the greatest of these is love. And oh how Moe loved. He loved life. He loved all of us. He loved all of the many roles he played. Father, son, brother, friend, Naval officer, executive, mentor, advisor, singer, comedian, husband…the list goes on. Whatever he did, Moe was happy.
He loved his family and friends. No one ever had to wonder about Moe’s love. He showed it to us constantly. He had the gift to make us happy. He never tried…it was pure and natural. His jokes and stories would keep us laughing no matter how many times we heard them. Sometimes all he had to say was the punch line, and he would have us rolling on the floor.
He loved music, and man could he sing. His beautiful tenor was like a blessing. It was his gift. I’m sure the Holy Family Choir isn’t quite the same without him.
Moe loved the Navy. He was thankful for the education and opportunities the Navy gave, but that was only the beginning. He was proud to serve his country. He felt privileged to be a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. His shipmates and classmates were among his dearest friends. He saw leadership as a privilege and he led with humility. He loved the sea and being a sailor.
Moe loved this church, and he helped build it. Holy Family was an integral part of his life. He generously gave of his talents to every ministry.
Moe loved to work. Nothing would make him happier than building something. Especially when he was helping someone else. Whether it was Habitat for Humanity or flying off to California to help Laura and Leslie build a room or deck, he couldn’t wait to get started.
And then there is the one that Moe loved most, Mom. You were truly his beloved wife, and there was nothing he wouldn’t do to make you happy. From the first time you met, he loved you. He even told so that night. “Bo…My name is Moe. I’ve been looking my whole life for a girl named Bo to marry.” Your love affair lasted for 49 long years. I know he made you happy, and you made his life a dream.
Moe, we will all miss your smiling face. We know you are still with us, but we still miss you. I hope you finally know how special you are.
Ronald Reagan: 100 Years of Leadership
Last Sunday, February 6, 2011, America celebrated President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday. The media was full of tributes to our 40th President. It was awe-inspiring to watch and read the many stories and celebrations of Reagan’s life and leadership. He is my favorite modern president, so I found myself wanting to honor him appropriately.
I came of age during the Reagan presidency. The presidential race of 1984 was the first in which I was eligible to vote. The assassination attempt in 1981shocked me and remains a vivid memory. The amount of attention Reagan is receiving reflects the impact that his life and leadership had on America and the world. He led America through one of its most challenging times. His leadership restored our faith and confidence in ourselves. He led us to victory in the Cold War and helped reduce the threat of nuclear holocaust.
While Reagan’s accomplishments and achievements were impressive, they are not what made him great. His greatness came from the attribute that defined him and his leadership – his character. Reagan knew who he was. He knew what mattered to him, and he understood the beliefs and values that formed his character. These beliefs and values did not influence or inform his actions; they drove and compelled them.
Reagan has become an icon to many. He has become the quintessential conservative. Whether it is leveled as a compliment or an insult, this label implies a dogmatic and rigid adherence to a political agenda. It gives the impression that Reagan was uncompromising. However, a close, objective review of Reagan’s presidency reveals an important truth about his leadership. It shows that he understood the importance of compromise.
Reagan knew that leadership meant having the wisdom and courage to find common ground with his adversaries, but he also knew that there are different types of compromise. He knew that leadership meant compromising on issues without violating one’s values and beliefs. Reagan demonstrated this distinction during the budget battles of his first term. His budget advocated three top priorities: increased defense spending, tax cuts, and reductions in domestic spending. Ultimately, he convinced Congress to pass a budget that achieved the first two but not the third.
Reagan compromised. Rebuilding America’s defenses and cutting taxes were matters of principle on which he would not compromise. The domestic spending cuts, while important, were issues on which he was flexible. This type of leadership required Reagan to both know his principles and to prioritize them. Reagan’s most fundamental value was protecting and preserving human freedom. He believed that communism was the greatest threat to that freedom. Reagan argued that unless America strengthened its military, communism would continue to spread. He called his strategy “Peace through Strength.”
Reagan’s next priority was restoring America’s economy. He believed that America’s greatness was built on its robust free-market economy. He felt the economic crisis of the 1970s and early 1980s was undermining America. Reagan also believed passionately that the federal government had grown far too large. Throughout his public life, he had declared his belief in shrinking the size and scope of government.
In 1981, Reagan recognized that he would not achieve all three of his budget priorities, so he compromised. He fought for what mattered most to him – defense and tax cuts. He accepted freezing the growth of domestic spending, but he acknowledged that the domestic cuts were unattainable.
Whether today’s leaders are lionizing Reagan or criticizing him, they can all learn important lessons from his leadership. They have the opportunity to define their characters in terms of what they truly value and believe. Great leadership is rarely a matter of choosing between good and bad or right and wrong. More often, leadership means choosing between good and good or bad and bad. Leaders like Reagan use their self-awareness and strong character to make these hard choices. Reagan believed in and valued the principle of limited government, but he valued freedom and economic stability more. His willingness to forego shrinking government was a compromise on policy. Had he allowed his political adversaries to grow the size of government, it would have been a compromise of character.
President Reagan taught us that compromise is not a dirty word. He showed that compromise that is rooted in our values is what makes a leader truly great.
Sometimes it feels like I need trifocals for my mind. That’s because I often have to focus on three different time-horizons simultaneously – past, present, and future. Success in most professional endeavors requires the right combination of leadership, management, and administration. By leadership, I mean the ability to look ahead and to imagine and articulate a future state. More than that, it is about getting others to see the goodness and wisdom of the future we aspire to. It is about helping them see that this future is achievable and worthy of investment and commitment. Management, on the other hand, is about seeing and dealing with the here and now. It is about ensuring that our work will enable us to achieve the future we desire. Lastly, administration is about the past. It is about reviewing results to ensure that we are achieving objects on our path towards our short and long-term goals and ambitions.
The key is finding the right balance of past, present, and future focus for the specific circumstances we confront. Rarely, we are fortunate enough to find ourselves in situations that allow us to concentrate solely on one timeframe. In exercises like strategic planning, we may focus almost exclusively on the future. Auditing and evaluations are almost entirely backwards looking.
Most activities, however, require us to maintain multiple perspectives. One such activity is project and program portfolio management. Our ability to maintain a triple focus – to lead, manage, and administer simultaneously – can mean the difference between success and failure.
Leadership in portfolio management means prioritizing and assessing in ways that keep the portfolio aligned with our organizations’ priorities and strategic objectives. Leadership means that we are getting the right projects done. Managing a portfolio means ensuring that projects and programs are being done right. It means making sure that the resources are available when they are needed and that the projects and programs have the support they need to be successful. Effective administration means that we are looking back to evaluate the quality of the work being performed, assessing the competence of people performing the work, and measuring the value of the work performed.
Too much attention in any one area can cause significant problems. When we over-emphasis the future, we can find ourselves with a portfolio of unfinished, poorly-run projects. Too much management focus, and we risk having the wrong projects being run exceptionally well. Too much attention on the past, and we can find we are applying lessons learned to projects that are inconsistent with our priorities. All three perspectives are essential.
So, how can we ensure that we keep our mental trifocals on at all times? First, simply being aware of our need for trifocals can help us stay focused on multiple timeframes. Second, it is important that we establish processes that require us to hold multiple perspectives simultaneously. For example, we can create prioritization processes that feed and integrate with our resourcing and staffing processes. We can integrate our lessons learned into strategic planning processes. Finally, we can encourage others to help us see when our attention is unbalanced. It is natural to be drawn to one perspective at a time. However, by forcing ourselves to maintain all three time-horizons, we increase our effectiveness and probability for success.
Visionary: Insult or Compliment?
Why is that we feel compelled to take words that mean one thing and twist them to mean something completely different? In my youth, somehow the word “bad” came to mean “good.” Today, I hear kids using the word “sick” to mean “great” or “awesome.” This isn’t simply a practice reserved for the young. I recently came across a word that connotes something radically different from the definitions we find in the dictionary. The word is “visionary.”
Random House’s Dictionary defines visionary as:
- given to or characterized by fanciful, not presently workable, or unpractical ideas, views, or schemes: a visionary enthusiast.
- given to or concerned with seeing visions.
- belonging to or seen in a vision.
- unreal; imaginary: visionary evils.
- purely idealistic or speculative; impractical; unrealizable: a visionary scheme.
- of, pertaining to, or proper to a vision.
- a person of unusually keen foresight.
- a person who sees visions.
- a person who is given to audacious, highly speculative, or impractical ideas or schemes; dreamer.
For most leaders, being called visionary is high praise. It means we have great ideas and a vision for how to move forward in a new and innovative way, yet most of these definitions describe someone who is out of touch with reality or even delusional. In fact, eight of the nine definitions cited have nothing to do with how we use today. The same is true for Webster’s Dictionary where only one of seven definitions align with our common usage.
So why does it matter that our common usage does not agree with the definition? In many cases, it probably doesn’t matter, and this is just a curious twist in a language that is constantly evolving. However, there are times when the precision of the words we choose does matter. Our workplace is becoming increasingly multilingual and cross-cultural. What happens if I call a non-English speaking colleague or client a visionary? If they simply look it up in the dictionary, they may take my intended compliment as an insult.
The problem of meaning being lost in translation is already large, but when words take on meanings that actually contradict or conflict with their definitions, we compound this problem. This became very real for me recently. The publisher for my forthcoming book, If You Will Lead, has plans to release it in Asia. I will need to ensure that words like “visionary” are translated as I intended them, not necessarily as the dictionary defines them. How well do people understand the words we use? Are they understanding them in the way we intended? The best way to know for sure is to simply ask, especially when we see a questioning look or get an unexpected response. Don’t be surprised if you find out that what you intended is not what someone heard.
