Category: Leadership (Page 3 of 10)

When to settle for good enough

1 July 2016 / Andrew

One of the first computer games I ever developed in my teens was a very simplistic helicopter game, where you would hunt out submarines and bomb them. It was simplistic for two reasons, the first of which I was learning to code, and the second because all games were clunky back then, which is what you would expect from home computers that you plugged into your TV screen.

As a young guy I was good at coding, and this knowledge allowed me to learn new skills coding in Visual Basic as I got a real job. However when I compare myself to our IT team I’m a good amateur at best.

I have in the past really enjoyed coding (I like creating new things), and right up to last year I’ve dreamed of teaching myself the latest technologies.

Then I realised, in a moment of brilliance, that it’s a ridiculous idea. To be the leader I need to be, I don’t need to be a better coder.

Good enough is fine.

Good enough is perfect for me.

And realising I’m good enough at something, is incredibly liberating.

∴

Obviously I’m not saying you shouldn’t get better at things. I never want to stop being a better leader of leaders.

Choosing what will really make you the person you want to be is essential for letting go of what’s not.

Getting to a point where you can say ‘I’m good enough at this’, not only allows others to be better than you, but frees you from some dream which may be more of a subconscious burden than you realise.

What are somethings you’ve always wanted to be better at?

Maybe, good enough is fine.

How to create space to think

2 June 2016 / Andrew

As I open the door and step across the threshold, I’m struck by the sweet aroma of fresh coffee. The warmth inside contrasts the crisp air outside, as does the bustle and noise of a busy café. I glance around the café and take comfort from the fact I see no-one I know.

I slide into a booth and my mind is ready. I’ve reached my liminal space.

A space for thought and focus and creativity.

It’s not a space for a catch-up (I only ever go there alone). It’s not a space for surfing the web or being connected. It’s not even a space where I engage with anyone. It is a space for thinking through one big thing at a time. It is a space where I break down a problem and mapping out a solutions.

This space is a place for threshold thinking. Taking old thinking and crossing the threshold into something new (the word liminal means threshold, in psychology it’s where the word subliminal derives.)

The reason I call this café my liminal space, is because I use the space to both trick and trigger my brain. By only ever doing creative thought at this café, I’ve made it really easy to think there.

When I slide into the booth, unpack my notebook or surface, I’m no longer drawn to read my email, and have little desire for social media, not because of my fantastic discipline, but because I have an internal narrative for this space. I have solved big problems in this space. I have built resolve for personal disciplines in this space.

Unique physical spaces, can trigger amazing changes in how we think.

∴

Over the years I’ve underestimated how incredibly important spaces are. Spaces, places, environments are important for setting the scene for physical, relational or mental outcomes.

Here’s some more ways we use spaces…

Dinner at the table: Causes our family to interact and engage more than we do on the couch watching TV.
Lunch at a café: Allows me to engage at a deeper personal level than I would in my office.
Walking meetings: Walking with people and chewing through big ideas provides for more open and reflective conversation.

And of course you can have negative spaces as well. Places where you are drawn away from who you want to be.

If you want to make some changes, sometimes you need to change your spaces.

What are your spaces? What outcomes do they drive in your life?

How to stop people thinking outside the box.

24 May 2016 / Andrew

You know when you repaint a room a different colour, and the first coat of the new fresh paint doesn’t look quite as you expected. You’re pretty sure it will be OK, but until you get the rest of the paint on you won’t know.

Last week, with our annual conference looming and our strategy so fresh I wasn’t sure how it would look, I decided I needed some icons/logos for our strategy.

I wanted something different, risky and evocative that would help my team grasp these new ideas.

I wanted hip.

I wanted fresh.

So, I set up a gig on a marketing design platform, so that I could get something completely new.

And I waited the 3 days … with anticipation… excited… and when the gig finally arrived it looked exactly like something we would do 🙁 … (even had our logo in it!)

Not hip. Not evocative. Not fresh.

Not usable.

The designer had given me exactly what I asked for, but nothing like what I wanted.

And it was my fault!

In my desire to give a full brief of the work, I had included links to our website and current values. This quest to be helpful created a box. A frame in which he would work. And that frame along with his desire to please, forced his design into a small box.

That small box killed creativity.

∴

We do this often as leaders.

Unknowingly, we over-define outcomes and rules and expectations. We frame tasks so strongly they force our team to work in boxes.

And then we wonder why people aren’t creative. Why they don’t think outside the box.

It’s easier for people to think outside the box, if the box doesn’t exist.

One word that defines extraordinary leaders

1 May 2016 / Andrew

Some people are easy to follow. There is something about them that gives us belief in ourselves and a desire to follow them and make great things happen. Other people are harder to follow. Being around them, following them, can be draining and demoralising.

A few years ago I developed an acronym for what makes a successful and high performing leader. The second word into the acronym is one that sets apart extraordinary leaders from the rest. Its…

LEADERS are Energisers.

Meaning extraordinary leaders impart energy and vitality and spirit to the people they lead.

It’s not that they are the bubbliest person in the room, rather they bring and give energy to others. And being an energetic leaders seems to be powered by a bunch of other E words.

Leaders equip.

Encourage.

Engage.

Empower.

Empathise.

Enthuse.

Sometimes exhort.

And often entertain.

STOP – SLOWLY read the list again.

Does the list describe your leadership?

Whether its large groups or individual meetings. People want to follow a leader who gives them the energy to move forward.

∴

If you’re struggling with the way you lead at the moment, its maybe because your team aren’t energised by you. You aren’t giving them the energy and empowerment and engagement they need to move forward. To succeed.

And the hardest part of being an energiser … is trying to give energy when you don’t have any yourself.

Trust me I know.

I’ve been reminded this week personally of the importance of making sure my energy levels are high, so that I can lead my team well.

LEADERS are energisers.

Go, bring energy!

Learning to read changed my life.

28 April 2016 / Andrew

With the exception of primary school, the first book I ever read cover to cover was when I was 27 years old. It was a Tom Clancy novel. The first business book I ever read was in my early 30’s, ‘The One Minute Manager’.

My journey with reading really took off as the founder of Agoge. I realised that no one else was easily going to teach me, push my thinking, or challenge the status-quo. So I decided I learn to read, so that I could learn to learn.

Nowadays, words and me still don’t get on very well. I’m terrible at spelling and I’ve learnt more about phonic spelling from my kids, than I ever did at school. But I’m learning.

I read, 30+ books a year.

I write blogs, ever thankful for spell checker.

I talk, using big words, that sometimes even mean what I intended.

I lead, I learn, I grow, I educate, I grow wiser, and even love people more, all because of books.

Reading has changed my life.

∴

A book is a bargain. An absolute bargain.

Where else to you get to access knowledge and ideas from experts in-depth, and get to learn from them for just a few dollars?

Where else do you get ideas that can truly shape your life?

For those who struggle to read, it’s worth the struggle. (Message me if you’d like some tips)

For everyone else, I can honestly say, by not reading you are missing out on the opportunity to learn, and experience, and develop, in ways you never dreamed of.

You are missing out on learning to be a better you.

The worlds most powerful question

19 April 2016 / Andrew

As arrogant as it sounds, if you ask me for help, I’ll most likely say No. I often don’t even give a reason it’s just, No.

But it’s a great cause… No.

You’re the only one who can help… (the only one, really?) … No.

Last time you helped … I did. Sorry, No.

Over the years here is a question I constantly forget to ask, which is possibly the world’s most powerful personal, professional and strategic question.

If I say Yes to this, what am I saying no to?

From strategy and goals at one extreme, to temptation and love at the other, it’s a question that helps you pause and consider the consequence of a Yes or No.

No to this … so I can stay true to what’s important.

Yes to this … knowing full well I won’t have time for that other thing.

∴

I love action. I love being involved. I love personal growth. I love leading. I love the organisations we’re building. I love the people I work with. I love my family.

I need to say ‘Yes’ to these things, which means ‘No’ to a lot of cool and exciting things that stop me being the leader I’m created to be.

So my question for you is …

If you’re saying yes to this, what are you saying no to?

[Footnote] In case this post stops you asking me. I also say ‘Yes’ often.

How do you give warnings?

13 April 2016 / Andrew

One of the first things you notice when you take a Tuk Tuk ride in Cambodia is the way they use their horns.

They beep as a warning.

Not out of frustration or anger, rather to let the scooter in front know they are there. To avoid a collision. To keep them both safe. They use the horn the way it was originally intended to be used. And it works really well.

In the west, we often sound our horn after the fact. In frustration and in anger. To show people how annoyed we are.

Same sounding horns.

Same form of communication.

But a radically different feeling.

∴

I find it interesting that in our personal interactions we have a couple of choices in how we communicate warnings to people.

We can either provide gentle warnings, prompts, small beeps, to guide our teams and make sure we don’t collide. Or we can wait until everything comes crashing together and react after the fact, in frustration and anger.

Whether driving or communicating, loud bolshie statements really only give you the opportunity to vent.

They do little to guide or encourage the other person.

And therefore are ineffective.

Shame and failure

29 March 2016 / Andrew

“Failure’s not fun. But failure is required. Failure in the service of learning, of experimenting, of making things – this is essential.

When you’re learning to walk, no one criticizes you when you fall down. Parents understand that you do it wrong and then you do it right.

But that’s about the last time you get that benefit. After that, we shame you when you fail.

We shame you as a way of gaining compliance and obedience. We shame you for your D-, we shame you for the missed shot on goal, we shame you for what you wore to the dance.

Is it any wonder we associate failure with shame?”

∴

Finally finished Seth Godin’s book “What to do when its your turn” over the break. The above is a shameless excerpt from it.

How often do we not try, because if we fail, we will feel ashamed?

How often do we make people feel ashamed, for trying and failing?

Why cutting corners matters!

21 March 2016 / Andrew

The road ahead of us bends to the left and intersects with our small cul-de-sac which climbs off to the right. With our ‘L‘ plates front and back, and me in the passenger seat, I clearly instruct the first time driver “don’t cut the corner”. It is after all a perfect corner for cutting. My words echo around the car as she whips right, cuts the corner and heads towards home.

“What part of ‘don’t cut the corner’ did you not understand?” I banter.

“You do it all the time” my daughter factually quips.

Instantly I realised that’s what I do. I cut that corner. Almost every time.

A few years ago a friend of ours was in a recovery programme. As a part of the programme they would often go for long walks around urban streets. As you know, footpaths generally curve around the intersection and then cross a few metres into the next street, so that its safer.

They had to ALWAYS cross where the footpath crosses the road.

They weren’t allowed to cut corners.

Ever.

Even if the roads were empty they still go the long way, because they wanted to reinforce that there was no cutting corners when it came to their recovery.

I cut those corners too.

Often.

Without even thinking about it.

We cut corners in life repeatedly. Usually because its quicker or easier or the least expensive way. What we often don’t see when we cut corners, is the message that sends to those around us. To our children, students, work-mates or even people we lead.

When you cut corners often enough, people will follow your example.

∴

Realising that I cut corners more often than I thought, has made me resolve some areas I never want to cut corners.

Honesty.

Safety.

Finances.

Caring for people.

Relationships.

Because cutting those corners will leave me a lesser person.

Is chasing security really going to change the world?

29 February 2016 / Andrew

How are you seeking to make an IMPACT In your job; at school; when at home; or even in your relationships … are you seeking security or impact?

Security equals safety and stability. It’s the status quo that is free from the fear of change.

Impact on the other hand is a forceful word. Think collision.

It’s influence.

Change.

And forward momentum.

To seek impact though, is to risk failure and mistakes. It also takes time and work. Sadly that’s why many people choose security.

By choosing security, we rob others of our unique place to shape and contribute and make an impact.

∴

Are you seeking security or impact?

Please, please, choose IMPACT!

Category: Leadership (Page 3 of 10)

When to settle for good enough

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How to create space to think

∴

How to stop people thinking outside the box.

∴

One word that defines extraordinary leaders

∴

Learning to read changed my life.

∴

The worlds most powerful question

∴

How do you give warnings?

∴

Shame and failure

∴

Why cutting corners matters!

∴

Is chasing security really going to change the world?

∴

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