Tag Archives: growth

Great Leaders and Great Organizations Find the Win in the Work

Truly great organizations sustain success over time because they don’t chase results, they win in the work.

Truett Cathy taught, modeled and built an organization on the concept that success is built, not found, by doing many small things right over a long period of time. My observation after three decades is simply that Truett and many others around him found how to win in the work. This is more than working to win or working principled and then discovering wins. This is a joy, a deep satisfaction, and stewardship that there is a win in the actual work. This means washing dishes, cleaning floors, busing tables or gently defusing a disgruntled customer can all be wins. Winning is more than outcomes. There can be a win in the actual work.

If you want your organization or your leadership to be truly transformed, then learn how win while you are working. The principle is the win is in the work. This means you don’t leverage all your strength to go after a goal and then when you get it or hit it, then, you relax or back off. Too many “winners” hit their objective and then shortly after winning have a let down because they were chasing a point in time or a feeling. Feelings are fleeting. This also explains why so many leaders and organizations live in the past. They believed they won at a point in time and if they can recapture that point of time they can manifest the same thing in the future. If your victory is a point in time, then that’s all it will become–a dusty trophy of a distant and bygone era. Those who infuse the win in their work are remembering the principles of the past while working forward to a new future.

Learn that “the win”  is the sense of accomplishment that comes as you work a process with others for a shared outcome and goal as you share in the inputs or process. This means you can win every day. This means Monday is a win. This means bad days, rainy days and boring days can all be wins. This means you don’t let the normal, the regular or the mundane defeat you.

Learn to win every day. See, when you don’t have a winning-is-in-the-work mindset, you have a defeat-is-in-the-duty mindset. If you are always winning, then your attitude is one of unworried, fully present, yet driving with confidence to the future. You can actually win every day. Truly positive people have figured this out (or perhaps) born this way. This is for the rest of the 99.99% of us in the world! Anxiety and worry are elements of defeat. Drudgery is an innate element of duty. Winning is truly not only in the work, but in your attitude about your work. Work is not punishment. Work is a gift. Work is a window of opportunity. When you unwrap your gift every day, just like a present, you can personally win every day despite how others feel or act about shared work. When you open your window, the possibilities and potentials increase because you are constantly letting fresh air in and stagnant air out.

There is a double win with shared work. This means winning is multiplied when it is shared among like-minded members of the team. Winning in the work brings a satisfaction and joy to and through the work. When satisfaction is shared joy is multiplied and the burden lightened. This means you can have a difficult, boring or seemingly unfulfilling job yet still win at work. Your work is great than your job. Your job is the culmination of your tasks. There are tasks that are mundane, boring and dull. There are tasks that drain you and suck life out of you. However, these tasks are more about your attitude than your outcomes.

Winning in the work means you are grateful every day. Instead of a “I have to do this” attitude, you posses a “We get to do this” disposition. Gratitude is a sign of winning in the work because you acknowledge the contributions of others and appreciation of your opportunity. When you get to do something, you are expressing that you could not get to do that thing. You turn an obstacle into an opportunity and a burden into a blessing. When you see a blessing you can more aptly be a blessing, Miserable people bless no one. They are toxic and they are losers. Content, joy-filled people are blessings to those around them.

Winning in the work means you spend more focusing on the inputs than the outcomes. When the inputs are right the outcomes are a given. Too many people and organizations spend too much time focused on outcomes and too little time focused on the inputs. In the National Football League since the year 2000 the New England Patriots have had 20 more wins than any other franchise during the same time winning an astounding 280 games. In that same period of timer the Cleveland Browns have lost 271 games. What separates these two franchises is organizational culture focus. The Patriots have a culture that simply states “do your job.” For the Patriots who have collected more Super Bowl trophies in 25 years than any other team, the winning was in the input and the outcomes took care of themselves. The Cleveland Browns, conversely, have focused on a “savior” mentality for individuals to come in and lead them to the victory. They have consistently focused on winning as an outcome and not as an input.

Seeing the win in the work is a mark of excellence. Aristotle said, “We are what repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” We are what we repeat or sustain. We are not defined by a single act, a feeling or a point in time. The real winning is in the process, in our habits and in our disciplines. James Clear in Atomic Habits goes as far as to say, “You do not rise to the level of our goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” This explains why there are so many one-hit wonders and so few dynasties. Discipline, systems, and rigorous accountability beat talent and desire frequently. When getting to go to work, getting to do the work, getting g to get up early, getting to stay late, and getting to take on the hard challenges becomes embraced by those in the organization, then this principle of the win in the work is taking root.

If standards are the multiplier, then others is the magnifier. No leader is meant to lead and work alone. In fact, if you are alone then you probably aren’t leading very well, since it’s incumbent upon leaders to have followers. When others are in engaged in the pursuit of the win in the work, then the bonds and fellowship in the organization or team are greatly strengthened. This explains when forced suffering is such a powerful binding agent on sweat-soaked football fields and in fear-ridden foxholes. High levels of discipline among humans draws them together. When we suffer, we need others. The same principle is deeply embedded in winning. Winning alone is fine, but it’s not great. Take golf or tennis. Both highly individualized sports. However, seeing Andy Murray win Wimbledon or Scottie Scheffler win a major is awesome, but it looks kind of awkward when they win alone, until they find their caddie, coach or family. Winning is a deeply shared experience. Think team sports. When the final whistle or horn blows, fans storm the field, players come together in piles of humanity to hug and jump and embrace. Winning together is more powerful than winning alone. Standards are the multipliers. Others are the magnifiers.

Don’t wait to get to a win. Win today. When you discover this powerful principle that the win is in the work, your defeats dissipate and your victories mount. When you discover that the win is in the work you will feel better, grow better and get better results. Not only that, others will be drawn to you as your attitude and outlook has transformed. What you do consistently is what will sustain you. What you do occasionally that will frustrate you. Don’t chase wins. Discover the win in your work and you can leave the chasing to those who like frustration, disappointment and illusions.

“Those too lazy to plow in the right season will have no food at the harvest” – Proverbs 20:4

Leaders: Go Get the Best Talent (Finding Top Talent for Your Organization)

A job no one can do other than the leader is to find the best talent. The best talent is called top talent. As a leader, when you farm selecting the best talent out to someone else, then you will never get the greatest talent you can find. Leaders most devote targeted, specific, and intentional time to discovery, recruitment, cultivation, and selection of the best talent. If you are not the best talent selector in your organization, then you are not doing all of your job.

A leader’s job is not only to cast the vision, set the course, and energize followers, but find the best talent and spread them throughout the organizations. There are no shortcuts to finding, recruiting, and developing top talent. There are always highly talented people, but most of the time they are not looking for you. As a leader, you must be hunting both internally and externally for top talent.

What is top talent?

Top talent represents the top 5% of your employee workforce who possess (a) both leadership & followership capacities, (b) ability to attract others to themselves, (c) naturally take ownership in the organization, (d) drive the organization forward, and (e) are committed to personal growth. Top talent is rare, but they do exist. Both graphite and diamonds are made up of carbon. However, the composition of diamonds and graphite differ greatly. At the atomic level, diamonds are composed in a crystal lattice structure that makes them the naturally hardest substance on earth. Conversely, graphite is made up of rings of hexagonal structures that allow for the conducting of electricity (which diamonds don’t have), but makes it incredibly weak when pressure is applied. Top talent leaders are diamonds—their internal composition is different from 85% of the others in the organization (The bottom 5% are probably neither).

Everyone in the organization cannot be top talent, but everyone can be talented. Talent is the combination of composition, capacity and chemistry. Composition is who they are (what qualities they are made of). Capacity is their personal ability to exploit and maximize who they are by what they do. Chemistry is how well they are able to achieve that in the context of others. Talent is present in differing levels in every person on the planet. Talent is not and never will be equal. Talent can be measured, and if something can be measured then it is not equal. Skills are learned behaviors or practices that can make someone more talented, but are not talent themselves. Skills are external facets that an individual learns over time. It is up to the leader to ensure that top talent is skilled in their job duties. For the sake of an organization, skills are traits or practices that you learn that can be both tangible (operational) and intangible (relational).

Becoming a Leader of Leaders

Top talent has a natural propensity to excel in both the tangibles and the intangibles. As a leader if you struggle to identify these in your own life and growth, then you will struggle to recognize them in others. This is why there are so few leaders of leaders. These apex leaders have a natural ability to assess both the tangible and intangible qualities of talent. Typically, these leaders are not 100% in their calls, but they have a much greater-than-average ability to read who the person is and what they may be capable of.

What qualities does top talent posses?

a – Has both Leadership and followership capacity. This cannot be stated enough that your top talent knows how to both judge and serve, direct and follow, & teach and be taught. Followership is the ability to know when to step and where to step. Leadership is directing and guiding the steps. Everyone can’t lead. Therefore, followership is critical of everyone in the organization. Top talent has an understanding of when to step up and when to step aside. They don’t fight for a position, they fight for a purpose.

b- Ability to attract others to themselves. Top talent are likeable, winsome people. They are talent magnets themselves. They are not bullies, bosses or tyrants. Top talent are the warm people who like a fire in the cold of winter draw others to themselves. They praise and encourage others because its a natural part of their personal composition.

c- Natural ownership of parts of the organization. Top talent doesn’t have to be told to take ownership. They naturally see needs and address them. Top talent doesn’t complain, they construct. Construction is the ability to see a need, diagnose the root, and put a plan in place to correct. Ownership is not a certificate or a pass to do what you want when you want it. True ownership is hyper-stewardship that is always working to grow the organization and those in the organization.

d- Ability to drive the organization forward. Not only are top talent naturally good at ownership of the organization, they also posses the ability to drive it forward to reach better results and desired outcomes. Top talent are drivers. They don’t wait for another to take the wheel and play the role of passenger. They want to drive the organization forward. They want to reach goals and see growth. They press into new places and new spaces along the way. Top talent doesn’t think they know where they are going, they actually chart a course, know the road, and start driving toward the destination. They also know when to yield the wheel when the time comes.

e- Are committed to personal growth. Top talent never have to be told to learn, because they are perpetual students. They not only learn, but they apply what they are learning. Top talent also teaches and instructs those around them. You can’t teach someone what you have learned. Top talent keep striving towards mastery. They are internally motivated and disciplined. When correction is needed they subject themselves willingly and make adjustments. Top talent will find their own mentors and models. They do not need to be assigned or told to learn from others. They are way ahead of their peers in this area.

Conclusion

As a leader, one of the most important roles you have is to get top talent in your organization. Once they are there, it is your job to ensure they are growing and developing. Organizations are living institutions comprised of humans who have differing levels of talent, skills, and ability. Top talent act as force multipliers in your organization. They have intangible qualities in amounts that others don’t or they use in them in ways that benefit the organization in ways others don’t. Leaders who farm talent out to others limit the their organization’s ability to reproduce leaders, reach desired outcomes, and sustain success. As John C. Maxwell said, if “Everything rises and falls on leadership,” then as a leader you must go find top talent to infuse energy and facilitate elevation in your organization.

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix:

The Three Ways to Measure Top Talent:

Composition, Capacity & Chemistry

 

The Five Qualities Top Talent Naturally Posses:

1- Has both Leadership & Followership Capacity

2-Ability to Attract Others to Themselves

3-Natural Ownership in the Organization

4-Ability to Drive Organization Forward toward Desired Outcomes or Goals

5- Commitment to Personal Growth

Learning to Lead in a Turbulent World – The Z Leader (Episode 1)

The Z Leader Podcast: Turbulence – Episode 1

Turbulence is one word that I would describe today’s collective environment that leaders have to develop and lead in.

Turbulence is the state of agitation, disturbance, unbalanced or instability—lacking calm.

There is very little calm and balanced about our world today. Generation Z has been described as being born between 1995 and 2010, meaning that the oldest of them are about 22. We live in a world in upheaval, meaning elements of our society that were once viewed as stable, as norms and some even sacred are changing right in front of our eyes. Add to that the advent and availability of the smart phone, and we have the most unstable, distracted and insecure environment that our world has seen in a long time.

This is the world that leaders have to navigate. It is a world filled with uncertainty.

Uncertainty = Insecurity

Leaders today need to establish and communicate clear paths of security. A clear path is clearly visible. The day for invisible paths has past. There’s no more “just wait and see” or “we’ll get there eventually.” Clear, concise and visible paths are needed. There simply is too much uncertainty to be obscure and aloof in the path you are helping create for those you are leading. Because security, today, equates to stability.

Security = Stability

1- The Z Leader needs to be a calm voice and a calming presence.

We can’t talk about keeping calm. You actually have to have a leadership voice that communicates and broadcasts to those around you that everything will be okay. The unspoken reality is that many of those on your team actually don’t think it’s going to be okay or they don’t feel like it will be okay.

“Panic causes tunnel vision. Calm acceptance of danger allows us to more easily assess the situation and see the options.” ~Simon Sinek

When you are calm you are able to see, think, process and react more clearly and more quickly.

2- The Z Leader needs to demonstrate a clear path.

When insecurity threatens, no longer the proverbial “trust me and keep quiet will work” everyone has a voice today, it is the calm voice with the clear path that leaders must demonstrate in today’s world. People can’t figure out how things work any more, because the old norms are in upheaval. The idea of “just figure it out” hardly exists anymore.

The Z Leader needs to make consistent decisions. Our world doesn’t need any more catered to, inconsistent decisions. Consistency is key to longevity. A machine that is consistent in its movements lasts longer than a machine that is inconsistent and warped in its movements.

3 – The Z Leader needs a smooth flow.

Your flow is how you move. People are looking for leaders like never before. If you can’t flow in today’s turbulent world, you wont have many followers. In fact, there is a manic nature about who to follow. Because there is so much inconsistency, your flow, your movements tell people where you are going. You have to be visible, you have to be public, you have to be where the people are if you are going to lead them. People today are choosing any voice rather than no voice to follow.

This is the first of more to come on the idea of the Z Leader. The Z Leader Podcast will be landing on other platforms as well.

Keep learning. Keep leading. Find your flow and walk in it…

“Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise” 

~Ephesians 5:15

(c) Alex Vann