Resistance is not futile…

With all the olympic buzz as we approach Sochi, I have come across a lot of pictures of athletes using parachutes and bungee cords as part of their training.

It reminded me of a 14 year old kid that lived in a group home but used to spend some weekends with my family.  He came from a brutal family with numerous overlapping layers of abuse and neglect and dysfunction.  He was already on probation and had a crowd of kids that he was not supposed to associate with.

After a couple of months of hanging out with my family and the youth ministry I was leading at the time we really began to notice that are young friend was starting to show signs of turning his life around.  He was being more positive, he was showing up for classes, and he was even beginning to talk about the kinds of things he would love to do with his life.

Then I got a call from his social worker informing that he wouldn’t be visiting the next weekend as he had taken off with the kids he was supposed to stay away from and hadn’t come home that week.  That was the last we heard from our young friend.  I was sad and discouraged.

As I have reflected on that experience over the last decade I realize that it was like my young friend was harnessed to powerful bungee cords that only seemed to pull on him when he began to move his life in a positive direction.  Every step towards responsibility and freedom required more and more energy – energy that he obviously didn’t have.

Sadly my young friend had finally just given up the fight and returned to the path of least resistance.

The reality is that my young friend is not unique in his struggle.  Even without the layers of tragic dysfunction and abuse of my young friend – as soon as we decide to move in the “right” direction it feels like somebody snaps us into a bungee harness.

I love how Steven Pressfield (Author of The Legend of Baggar Vance, and numerouns amazing historical fiction novels) sheds light on this unavoidable aspect of the human condition in his profound little book “The War of Art”

What is the most toxic force in the world?
Resistance is the most toxic force on the planet.
It is the root of more unhappiness than poverty, disease, and erectile dysfunction.
To yield to resistance deforms our spirit.
It stunts us and makes us less than we are and were born to be…
…If you believe in God (and I do) you must declare Resistance evil, for it prevents us from achieving the life God intended when He endowed each of us with our own unique genius.

I don’t think that Pressfield is actually overstating things by calling resistance the most toxic force on the planet.

Resistance is EVIL – it wages war against anything good that we try to create.

Resistance is EVIL – because of what isn’t accomplished if it wins.

Resistance is EVIL – because it stands in the way from us discovering our “unique genius.”

Pressfield is echoing an observation that humans have been making for thousands of years.  The 1st century Christian writer and apologist Paul said it this way in Romans 7:17-20 MSG…

Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

Paul actually refers to the resistance as a “sabatoge” – a battle that is fought within us with no external foes to blame.

The existance of resistance is something that everyone must come to terms with.  What does it mean?  Why is it present?  Your answer will shape the trajectory of your life.  I myself resonate with Paul’s conclusion in Romans 7:25 – which you are welcome to follow up on yourself.

Regardeless of how you answer the bigger problem for the existence of resistance – I do believe that anyone can get better at minimizing the force of resistance in our lives…

• that paper, article, report or book that you know that you need to work on
• that lifestyle change involving changes to diet, habits, exersize, etc
• that person that everyone else seems to avoid, ignore or disrespect

If you want to overcome resistance – you need to get good at asking yourself 3 questions: WHAT > WHY > HOW

WHAT am i exactly trying to do?

• We need the clarity that comes from being able to “see” some sort of glimpse of where you are headed.
• Clarifying your VISION of what you are trying to do gives you a whole new lower gear set that can help you power through the resistance of your initiative.

WHY am I even trying to do this?

• Taking time to drill down into why something is important to do helps you to clarify whether or not an initiative aligns at all with what you are naturally PASSIONATE about.
• Doing something hard out of obligation is a shallow “why” – it is a pathetic power source.
• Doing something hard because it aligns with your PASSION is a deep “why” – it is almost an infinite power source!

HOW am I going to get it done?

• If you are going to go to war – you had better spend some time strategizing a plan. (Luke 14:31)
• We paint ourselves in to corners and blind alleys by barging into projects.
• You need to break every challenge into smaller parts – I use MPH to help:
  • Mountains: Name the big mountains that need to be climbed,
  • Path: Map out your best guess as to where you will need to go to get over the mountains.
  • Handholds: Identify the goals that will make your progress tangible. (SMART goals of course)

So don’t believe the Borg – Resistance is not futile!

You can get better at overcoming resistance by learning to ask ourselves WHAT, WHY & HOW whenever we try and create anything new, noble or needed.

Talk amongst yourselves…

• what forms does resistance take when you try and create something new, noble or needed?
• Why do you think that we sabotage our best intentions?
• Which of the 3 questions (What/Why/How) do you think will help you the most? Why?

Language Police and How You Can Create Your Own “Distinct Society”

If you are a Canadian that doesn’t live in Quebec – you have undoubtedly had numerous conversations trying to get your head around what seem like overly-zealous, punitive and often arbititrary application of French Language Laws.

If you aren’t Canadian – you probably can’t even imagine what the big deal is.

In 1867 the British North America Act put in place a constitution that defined Canada as a federal dominion that granted unique rights to the french colony of Quebec:

• Bi-lingualism in the federal and Quebec legislatures
• Educational rights
• Appreciation for the importance of Roman Catholicism

All of this accomodation was done because there was a recognition of the unique french culture that had been established for over 100 years.

In 1977 Bill 101 was enacted in Quebec as the Charter of the French Language “to make French the language of Government and the Law, as well as the normal and everyday language of work, instruction, communication, commerce and business.”

In the 1960’s Jean Lesage coined the term “distinct society” to describe Quebec and was used extensively throughout the constitutional discussions of the 1980’s and 1990’s.

Why all this fuss?  Why go to all the effort to police what language people use and whether business names are “french-enough?”

Its’ because of the conviction that language creates culture.

A common language is often the most obvious outward sign that people share a common culture … For this reason, groups seeking to mobilize their members often insist on their own distinct language … and according to some linguists, languages not only symbolize our culture but also help create a framework in which culture develops, arguing that grammar, structures and categories embodied in each language influence how its speakers see reality. (Essentials of Sociology, Brinkerhoff, White & Ortega)

Quebec spends so much time and energy trying to stamp out non-French language usage because of the belief that controlling language is the most effective way to keep its culture “distinct.”

So what.

You may or may not be thanking me for connecting some of the abstract dots related to Quebec language police – but I think this matters.  It is a powerful metaphor that leaders cannot ignore.  As Mike Breen states plainly…

WE ARE CREATING A CULTURE, EVEN IF IT’S UNINTENTIONAL.

THE QUESTION IS, DO WE LIKE THE CULTURE WE ARE CREATING?

Reflecting on this question over Christmas – led me to stepping back and listening to the “normal” language used in the midst of my families habits, rhythms and conversations.

I realized that I didn’t really like the current culture of my family.

The way we talk to each other. The way we joke and tease each other. The way we argue.

The culture of my family was more negative and destructive than I knew it should be because of the language we were using to communicate with each other.

This leads us to the important question that every leader needs to keep asking…

What kind of culture am I creating?

Your marriage, family, friendships, ministry, small group, staff, team, business and organizations all have cultures – do you like what they are becoming?

Here are the questions that I began to ask myself and some of the action steps I have taken to lead my culture in the right direction…

Assessing your cultural language…

• What kind of language is common around the “water cooler” or “dinner table?”
• What kind of language is common when their is friction or conflict?
• What kind of language is used to explain expectations and accountability?
• What kind of language is used to demonstrate affection and approval?
• How would you generalize the tone and texture of normal language?

Changing the language of your culture:

1. Identify what kind of language needs to become “illegal” in your culture.
2. Identify the kind of language that you want to become “normal.”
3. Discuss the idea of language and culture within your community.
4. Facilitate a common expectation for what kind of language you want to become normal.
5. Revisit your progress periodically.

Talk amongst yourselves…

• What are the best/worst examples of how you have seen language shape a culture?
• Can you think of an example of how a media stream has intentionally tried to shape culture by the language it uses?
• What trends in language do you see as most worrisome?

For further reading…

Ivy Business Journal article on “Culture-Driven Leadership”

Breen, Mike (2011-08-16). Building a Discipling Culture (Kindle Locations 655-656). 3DM.

Huffington Post Articles on Quebec Language Laws

How many marbles do you have left?

In his recent book Playing for Keeps/Losing Your Marbles, Reggie Joiner (Think Orange) identifies 6 things every kid needs over time:

• Time
• Love
• Words
• Stories
• Tribes
• Fun

While none of these things are really novel – he frames each of them as habits that need to be cultivated frequently over time throughout a child’s life.

To help parents he encourages the use of a jar of marbles.  Each marble represents a week left before that child leaves home.

…if you count the days or weeks you have left with kids, you stand a better chance of making them count. Reggie Joiner

Time is such an easy commodity to take for granted – despite the reality that we can’t make more of it.

One of the more frequent reflections I have had in this, my 40th year is the lament of wishing that I could relive my 20’s & 30’s with what I know now.

A lot of time and opportunity is wasted by living haphazardly with no sense of urgency.

I know that the seasons of stumbling and bumbling around are actually what helped me get where I am today (wherever that is, I suppose) – but it makes me aware of how we often play different in the first period than we do in the dying minutes of a close game.

THINK ABOUT IT. WHEN YOU ADD A COUNTDOWN CLOCK TO ANY GAME, COMPETITION, OR EXERCISE, IT AFFECTS BEHAVIOUR. NEXT TIME YOU WATCH A BASKETBALL TEAM, SEE IF YOU NOTICE WHAT HAPPENS TO THEIR ENERGY • FOCUS • PASSION AS THE CLOCK GETS CLOSER TO ZERO. Reggie Joiner

The bottom line in life is that there are no tie games, no overtime periods, and no shootouts.

I think that living with a sense of urgency changes the way we parent our kids.

But maybe you’re reading this and you are not just a parent – but a leader.

What would change if you started a marble jar for the people that you lead?

Youth Pastors, what if every September you started a marble jar with 208 marbles for grade 9 students, a jar with 156 marbles for grade 10 students, a jar of 102 marbles for grade 11 students, and a jar of 52 marbles for grade 12 students?

Talk amongst yourselves…

• What kind of energy, focus and passion would your leadership have if you knew that you were in the final minutes of the game of life?
• What would you do different if every week you reminded yourself that you have one week less to make a difference by pulling out a marble from each jar?

Students will comprehend the meaning of

Students will comprehend the meaning of Scripture better if they read it in an actual, physical Bible. http://ow.ly/rD8k9

If volunteers really understood their im

If volunteers really understood their impact,
we’d never have trouble finding enough of them. http://ow.ly/rtGls

P.5 Fergusons Formula: Match the Message to the Moments

How many constructive learning opportunities have I missed – how many teachable moments have I denied the people I lead – because I waited too long to try and talk about it?

In 1952 Robert Havighurst coined the term “teachable moment” in his book, Human Development and Education.  He helped us understand what most leaders intuitively understand…

“It is important to keep in mind that unless the time is right, learning will not occur.”

This weeks blog emerges out of the reality that timing is everything when it comes to learning and growth.

We are on the home stretch now – into our 5th of 8 leadership lessons that have been identified by Anita Elberse’s Harvard Business Review case study of Sir Alan Ferguson. The long time manager of Manchester United soccer club is considered by many to be one of the greatest coaches ever.  If you are just joining the conversation – here are the 4 lessons we have explored so far:

Lesson 1: Start with the foundation (build a club, not just a team)

Lesson 2: Dare to rebuild your team (decisions must be made bi-focally)

Lesson 3: Set high standards – and hold everyone to them.

Lesson 4: Never, Ever Cede Control

The 5th lesson that Elberse identifies is his ability to “Match the Message to the Moment.” In the video below he talks about how important timing is when it comes to sharing feedback with players.

Ferguson: …in the dressing room, you need to point out mistakes when players don’t meet expectations. That is when reprimands are important. I would do it right after the game. I wouldn’t wait until Monday. I’d do it, and it was finished. I was onto the next match. There is no point in criticizing a player forever.

There is a magic moment when people are open to feedback.  We know when we get it right and we know when we get it wrong!

When we get it right – the other person’s hospitality towards has tangibly increased.

When we get it wrong – the other person’s hostility towards has tangibly increased.

Matching the “Message to the Moment” requires the balance of appreciating when we are stepping in too early and too late.

Sharing feedback too early…

• risks embarrassment in front of team-mates, feels like micro-managing, and can make people tentative.
• triggers defensiveness because they feel pounced on.
• makes you look like a task-oriented control-freak.

Sharing feedback too late…

• undermines how valuable that persons contribution is to the team.
• increases the likelihood that the conversation is perceived as a dangerous blind-side hit that causes irreparable injury.
• makes you look like a passive-aggressive people-pleaser.

Wouldn’t it be great to be surrounded by people who were self-motivated to look for and capitalize on “teachable moments?” I think that we can increase the “teachable capacity” of the people around us by cultivating a few important norms in the people we lead…

Create a culture of reflection

• When talking about what we have been doing and learning is normal for us and the people we lead – then we make intentional growth normal
• Habit: Debrief everything that is done with the question – “What did you learn from that?”

Affirm, then Assert*

• When people know that you recognize and value who they are, you make it safe for them to hear critical feedback as helpful not dangerous.
• Habit: Make it normal to spend more time AFFIRMING what you love about someone and what they are doing well than you do ASSERTING what you think they need to hear.

Talk amongst yourselves…

• Do you tend to share feedback too early or late?  Where does that tendency come from in you?
• Have you figured out how to share feedback with people with the “hair triggers” – where one wrong step could cause a relational explosion? What has worked for you?
• What other habits have you found helpful for maximizing “teachable moments” with the people around you?

*I need to thank Jonny Ryytersgaard for sharing the “Affirm…then Assert” mantra with me!

P.4 Ferguson’s Formula: Dictators, Politicians and the Tightrope between them…

Are you a narcissistic dictator or a people-pleasing politician?

Unfortunately it is easier for people to identify when a leader has been too strong – or not strong enough because when power and control is applied appropriately – it is just what people expect.

In this blog series, I have been springboarding off of the leadership lessons mined from Anita Elberse’s Harvard Business Review case study of Sir Alan Ferguson.  The legendary and recently retired manager of Manchester United soccer club has had such a profound impact that leaders from all disciplines have gathered to glean and apply transferable principles.  So far we have discussed…

Lesson 1: Start with the foundation (build a club, not just a team)

Lesson 2: Dare to rebuild your team (decisions must be made bi-focally)

Lesson 3: Set high standards – and hold everyone to them.

This week we talk about a very delicate subject.  Especially within the not-for-profit world of charities and faith communities.

The issue is control and how we use it to leverage our leadership responsibilities.  

Being a control freak is somehow more acceptable when a leader has put their own collateral on the line to get where they are – they have earned the right to call the shots.  Even for CEO’s and other executives – there is an appreciation that they weren’t hired to necessarily win friend and influence people – they exist to increase shareholder profits.  Volunteer driven organizations require a more sensitive and nuanced approach.  NPO’s are usually driven by social profit and humanitarian values that clash with autocratic leadership styles that smack of self-centeredness.  Faith communities are in theory fueled by an expectation of humble servant-leadership that makes being a strong leader a delicate balancing act between an uncompromising pursuit of vision and the self-motivation of a congregation to cooperate with it.

Sir Alan Ferguson say’s that leaders can “Never, Ever Cede Control.”  Here are a few key excerpts from leadership lesson #4:

“Before I came to United, I told myself I wasn’t going to allow anyone to be stronger than I was. Your personality has to be bigger than theirs. That is vital.”

Is bigger really better?  If you are like me – then this is a statement that you have spent a lot of time and energy trying to disprove.  I come to leadership with an aversion to toe-to-toe showdowns that require someone to back down or lose face.  I have a deep-seated belief that every scenario can be negotiated as a win-win.  I also seem to find it easy to give people the benefit of the doubt.  This strength becomes a significant weakness when it become risk-aversion – when my self-doubts are allowed to fester and convince me that being “strong” with another “strong” person is wrong.  My unwillingness to be as strong as the people I am leading has cost me dearly.  My observation is that some people intuitively sense insecurity and see lack of strength or control like a hole in a dam that needs to be filled.  I am learning that Ferguson’s decision to “be bigger” than anyone else BEFORE he stepped into a leadership role is very important.  It is a posture that shapes how we approach people and situations so that helps to ensure that we don’t send the message that we are not yet ready, willing or able to lead.

“You can complicate your life in many ways by asking, “Oh, I wonder if the players like me?” If I did my job well, the players would respect me, and that’s all you need.”

This is a good way to understand one of the most significant shifts in parenting over the last 3 decades.  Parents are increasingly willing to trade being “respected” for being “liked.”  This probably has a lot to do with kids being able to play divorced or separated parents against each other.  Parents find themselves not being able to enforce expectations because kids can always leverage the potential for them to live with the other parent if they don’t like how they are being controlled.

Leaders need to make peace with the hope that being a great leader will result in people “liking us.”  Allowing ourselves to be motivated by relational affirmation results in the tail wagging the dog.  A parent wants what is in the best interest of their child – even if the child cannot see or appreciate it at the time.  We hope as parents and leaders that our decisions will eventually be seen for what they are – not malicious self-centered stabs at controlling people but benevolent attempts to do the best for who we are responsible for.

“It’s important to have confidence in yourself to make a decision and to move on once you have. It’s not about looking for adversity or for opportunities to prove power; it’s about having control and being authoritative when issues do arise.”

Leaders make decisions.  They weigh the options and discern the outcomes as best they can – but they learn to make decisions knowing that they cannot afford the time necessary to have all the information.

Failure is not making bad decisions.  Failure is letting people and circumstances make decisions for you.

“Control your destiny or someone else will.”    Jack Welsh (Former CEO of GE)

So some pretty significant ideas to wrestle with.  For me these are the issues that cut right to the heart of what kind of leader I have been called to be, why I have been called to leadership and how I lead the people God has placed me with.

We are all scared of power and being the leader who is “controlling.”  A helpful check and balance for me is to be a “gentle” leader.  This may sound counter-intuitive – but l really appreciate Andy Stanley’s definition of gentleness as a way to safeguard the use of my strength as a leader. He says that…

“Gentleness is the decision to respond to someone at their level of strength or weakness.  It is the willingness to gear down to their level.  My relationship with you is more important than you knowing the full capacity of my strength.” (From Part 4: “Follow Wear” of Follow Series)

This means that I am responsible to constantly assess the power level of the people I am leading and am willing to gear down to their level.  That does not mean that I back down – but it also means that I power up appropriately – to the level necessary to fulfill my leadership responsibilities.

Talk amongst yourselves…

• How do you tend to react to people with strong personalities and influence?
• What would those you lead say about you? Not strong enough / Strong / Too Strong
• How do you stay on the tightrope of being strong but not a control freak?

P.3 What we can learn from the greatest coach in history: Epic Ethics & Ego Massage

So far we have examined the first 2 leadership lessons from Anita Elberse’s Harvard Business Review case study of Sir Alan Ferguson.  You may not agree that he is the greatest manager like ESPN does – but it is hard to deny how transferable his disciplines are to leadership arenas beyond the pitch.

Lesson 1: Start with the foundation (build a club, not just a team)

Lesson 2: Dare to rebuild your team (decisions must be made bi-focally)

This week we look at Lesson 3: Set high standards – and hold everyone to them.  

Here is an excerpt to chew on…

I had to lift players’ expectations. They should never give in. I said that to them all the time: “If you give in once, you’ll give in twice.” And the work ethic and energy I had seemed to spread throughout the club. I used to be the first to arrive in the morning. In my later years, a lot of my staff members would already be there when I got in at 7 AM. I think they understood why I came in early—they knew there was a job to be done. There was a feeling that “if he can do it, then I can do it.”

 

I constantly told my squad that working hard all your life is a talent. But I expected even more from the star players. I expected them to work even harder. I said, “You’ve got to show that you are the top players.” And they did. That’s why they are star players—they are prepared to work harder. Superstars with egos are not the problem some people may think. They need to be winners, because that massages their egos, so they will do what it takes to win. I used to see [Cristiano] Ronaldo [one of the world’s top forwards, who now plays for Real Madrid], Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, and others out there practicing for hours. I’d have to chase them in. I’d be banging on the window saying, “We’ve got a game on Saturday.” But they wanted the time to practice. They realized that being a Manchester United player is not an easy job.

My reflections on this leadership lesson leave me with a question and a conclusion.

Question: Is my work ethic “epic?”

As a 17 year old teenager I worked a number of summers for small engine shop.

I was expected to start work at 8am.  I remember sitting in the driveway listening to the news on the radio till 8:04 before wandering in to the shop and starting work.  My boss (and good friend) had been their since 7am – even earlier during the spring rush.  I was just an employee – a hireling – barely conscious of whether I was making the business money or losing it.  Over time, I began to appreciate what it means to be owner – as I observed my boss bear the gravity of being the point leader of his own enterprise. 

There is a unique challenge to those that lead in the not-for-profit world.  The challenge is even more present for those that are managers of departments within not-for-profits.  Where the business world leverages money, promotion, profit and sales to keep people’s work ethic red-lining on the edge of burn-out, the not-for-profit world runs on different fuel with a different engine.  Most socially motivated enterprises run on soft-profit fuel like personal growth, healing, filled bellies, improved health, or education.  These engines are governed not by capitalism but by values and beliefs that prioritize life/work balance.  This means that the socially conscious leader needs to intentional about how they define what makes their work ethic “epic.”  It has to be more than a willingness to put in more time (quantity) than anyone else on your team – I need to demonstrate an epic “quality” of the work I accomplish and the way I live the rest of my life.

 Jon Maxwell has said that “Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.”

• Is my work ethic far enough ahead of those I lead to motivate them to move from a “hireling” ethic to an “owner” ethic ?
• Am I willing to “show up earlier” and “go home later” than those I lead?  What does that mean for my context?  
• How can I increase the capacity of my work ethic without just defaulting to putting more hours in?

Conclusion: I must become a “ego masseur”

Ferguson states that “Superstars with egos are not the problem some people may think.”  We often discount people in the limelight that come across self-centered – and we should.  What Ferguson seems to have mastered is the ability to understand what drives people and to then intentionally harness it for the broader good of the team.  Star players are star players because they have intrinsic motivation to do more than most in order to “win.”

I played competitive volleyball throughout high school and college.  I was the second string setter for 2 years and watched our talented team mostly from the bench.  We could have dominated.  We should have dominated.  But our setter would shut down when the team struggled.  He would refuse to make extra effort if the team wouldn’t give him perfect passes.  This resulted in the team crumbling even more and self-destructing under the scorn of his pressure.  He was a super-star and unfortunately his behaviour was tolerated.  In retrospect I realize that a better coaching strategy would have been to bench him every time he gave up.  This would have reinforced that the team expected more – not less from its’ superstars when we were in dire straits.

Understanding why people do what they do and learning how to “massage” it for the benefit of the greater good is an essential leadership art.  Sometimes I am afraid of what drives people and feel like I would be doing them a favour by helping them stamp it out.  The reality is that good leaders learn not to be fire-fighters but fire-shepherds.

• Who has the biggest “EGOS” in my sphere of leadership?  
• Am I tempted to fight people’s “fire” or shepherd it for the benefit of my community?
• When does “ego massage” become manipulation?

Next week – we will wrestle with “Why a leader has to be a control-freak.”

Talk amongst yourselves…

• Who’s “epic work ethic” inspired you to be and do more?  What did it look like?
• Have you ever had your “ego massaged?”  What did it look like?  What did it accomplish?

What we can learn from the greatest coach in history P.2: Dare 2 Rebuild

Last week I was deep in the heart of Algonquin Park taking part in Pilgrimage Educational Resources’ “Wilderness Institute for Leadership Development” canoe trip.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find a reliable wifi hotspot so I wasnt able to publish part 2 of my thoughts on what we can learn from Sir Alan Ferguson.  If you read P1 you will remember the 8 leadership lessons that i am exploring through this blog series emerge from Anita Elberse’s Harvard Business Review case study on the recently retired coach of the Manchester United soccer club.

P1 we talked about Ferguson’s commitment to “Start with the Foundation.”

The key idea was that he was more focused on building a dominating club than a winning team.

P2 will examine the willingness to “Dare to Rebuild Your Team”

Here is an excerpt…

Ferguson: We identified three levels of players: those 30 and older, those roughly 23 to 30, and the younger ones coming in. The idea was that the younger players were developing and would meet the standards that the older ones had set. Although I was always trying to disprove it, I believe that the cycle of a successful team lasts maybe four years, and then some change is needed. So we tried to visualize the team three or four years ahead and make decisions accordingly. Because I was at United for such a long time, I could afford to plan ahead—no one expected me to go anywhere. I was very fortunate in that respect.

The goal was to evolve gradually, moving older players out and younger players in. It was mainly about two things: First, who did we have coming through and where did we see them in three years’ time, and second, were there signs that existing players were getting older?

….The hardest thing is to let go of a player who has been a great guy—but all the evidence is on the field. If you see the change, the deterioration, you have to ask yourself what things are going to be like two years ahead.

Questions that this lesson has made me start asking…

• Am i willing to make decisions about who is doing what, where and how that may not bear fruit for a year or more down the road?

Most of the people you are leading are firmly oriented in what you can do for them right now. I have learned that it is dangerous to be either preoccupied with current circumstances or future plans. What is needed is the discipline of leading “bi-focally” where short-term decisions are always being filtered through the consciousness of longer term priorities. This comes with the risk of your decisions being misunderstood by followers struggling with the patience to delay gratification or the eyes to see the big picture.

• Do i have an intentional leadership pipeline that allows me to evaluate who is emerging, what they bring to the table and when? (How could I make it more intentional than it is?)

Peter Drucker made famous the statement “what gets measured, gets managed.” Without some sort of system for observing, evaluating, and empowering young leaders we lose the ability to think proactively when confronted with challenges and opportunities.  How many times have I had to look outside my organization to fill a role that could have been more effectively been filled by someone that had been intentionally groomed for leadership?

• Do I have people whose performance has been deteriorating that I keep around because they are “good guys?” (Am I willing to help them transition to a better opportunity?)

Jim Collins reinforces Alan’s thoughts here as well.  In Good to Great he reminds us that the difference between good and great enterprises is the willingness to 1) get the right people on the bus -which is only possible if you 2) confront the brutal facts.  My rearview mirror is filled with the ghostly images of people that I should have shepherded more intentionally out of the roles they were comfortable in and into new directions that freed up them and the organization to keep growing.

• What is the “shelf life” of a successful team in your area of leadership? (How does that knowledge change the way you lead?)

My youth ministry days taught me to think in 4 year windows.  Year 1&2 were for relational trust and credibility building with grade 9 & 10 students.  Year 3&4 were for student leadership development and program expansion.  I learned to break the 4 year window into 2 year sections so that I could focus on building relational traction with grade 9 & 10 students while the grade 11 & 12’s carried more and more ownership for carrying the ministry.  In theory the cascading effect of thinking in 2 year windows creates a self-perpetuating system of stability.  In reality we are always confronted with unique factors like low or high numbers of a certain age group, the ebb and flow of adult attendance, the feast or famine of quality volunteers, etc.  The constant flux of youth ministry means that you often only get a 2 year window to thrive before the dynamics change dramatically and you are rebuilding.

Parting Thoughts…

It is tempting to discount this lesson with the rationale that “coaching people is way more complicated and nuanced than the concrete win/lose world of professional sports.”  Don’t go there.  Leadership is hardship – there is no shortcut around the discipline of making short-term decisions that make your team BOTH better today AND better tomorrow.

Talk amongst yourselves…

• What does your leadership pipeline look like?  How do you measure it?  How do you leverage it?
• What advice do you have for moving “good guys” off your team?
• Have you observed a “shelf-life” for how long someone can be effective in a role before it needs to be redefined?

What we can learn from the greatest coach in history…

Well here I am – back from my August hiatus – ready to share what I have been learning in the Silent Partner Journal!

I had breakfast with a friend I am coaching this morning. He couldn’t meet any later than 6am so we found ourselves at MacDonald’s – the only place I could find open that early (other than Tim Hortons of course).

He warned me that he probably needed to write out what it was that was most important for us to talk about because he is prone to wandering aimlessly down rabbit trails. Before long he found himself on a soapbox rant about mainstream media and how it is just a pawn of corporate and government agendas. He referred to how important news is sidestepped by focusing of celebrity gossip, entertainment and sports. In fact he said something to the effect that “sports news has become a cult-like obsession!”

As that statement bounced around in my cranium it struck me that professional sport is the narrative that many people live in and through. In a culture where more and more of our careers produce virtual products and services, perhaps it is easier to identify with the more tangible accomplishments of athletes and coaches. Sport provides lots of easy parallels to life – opposition, team, skill, ability, training, effort, success, defeat, submission, celebration…the list goes on.

Perhaps that is why the role of coach is one of the Silent most accessible leadership concepts we can relate to. We can all look back on the role and impact that coaches had in our development as athletes and more importantly as people.

That is why it is not surprising that there is a lot that can be learned from great coaches. There are no shortage of examples of great coaches and many of them have gone on to write and speak about what their experiences have to say about leadership and life in general.

BleacherReport.com has assembled their list of the top 50 coaches of all time. Interestingly all of the coaches they picked were from North American sports leagues.

If we venture beyond the confines of the “colonies” and zoom out to search for coaches with a truly worldwide audience – we could not avoid bumping into the legacy of Sir Alex Ferguson who was the manager of Manchester United soccerclub for 26 seasons.

He won 28 major honours, and 38 in total, from November 1986 to May 2013,^[4][5] Sir Alex retired recently (May 2013) and his reputation by some as the “greatest coach in history” drew Anita Elberse of the Harvard Business Review to do an extensive case study of his management approach. While the world of soccer is not top of mind for most North Americans, Ferguson’s former chief executive David Gill claimed that “Steve Jobs was Apple; Sir Alex Ferguson is Manchester United.”

Elberse summarized her research into 8 “lessons” and published them as “Ferguson’s Formula.”

The content of Ferguson’s lessons is so rich – and so easily transferable to almost any leadership context – I have chosen to tackle no more than one lesson per blog over the next few weeks.

You are encouraged to read the whole article – read ahead and percolate on how Ferguson’s Formula could help you be a better leader.

Lesson #1: Start with the foundation

One of the most important observations that Elborse made of Ferguson is that “he talks about the difference between building a team, which is what most managers concentrate on, and building a club.”

Key excerpts:

“From the moment I got to Manchester United, I thought of only one thing: building a football club. I wanted to build right from the bottom. That was in order to create fluency and a continuity of supply to the first team. With this approach, the players all grow up together, producing a bond that, in turn, creates a spirit.”

“Winning a game is only a short-term gain—you can lose the next game. Building a club brings stability and consistency. You don’t ever want to take your eyes off the first team, but our youth development efforts ended up leading to our many successes in the 1990s and early 2000s. The young players really became the spirit of the club.”

“They will always remember that you were the manager who gave them their first opportunity.”

Talk amongst yourselves…

• what do you think is the difference between building a team and building a club?
• how can you tell if a leader is a team-builder or a club-builder?
• what are the forces at play that tempt you to settle for team-building?