John Baldoni's Blog

Sometimes it’s not what you say or do when you lead; it’s what you don’t say and don’t do.

Sean McVay, head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, acquainted himself with this lesson this past season after winning the Super Bowl last year. In an interview with Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic, McVay said:

“I have an ability to bring people with me in this positive energy and this aura. But I also believe that it can be equally destructive, even if I am not saying anything. The frustration, the body language, guys feel –that leads to them being tighter and not going and playing the way they are capable of.”

McVay’s admission is a humbling one. As a go-go coach still in his mid-thirties, McVay is more a firebrand than a velvet glove. But, as his statement reveals, McVay is paying attention to how he comes across to others. When players come to expect praise or even an admonition and do not receive it, then they grow wary. 

According to McVay, the Rams’ defense did fine this year; the offense – McVay’s specialty – fell apart. Their demise was more than the loss of veteran star quarterback Matthew Stafford. McVay, known for being a control freak, held himself apart from the team, and its performance suffered.

Communicate clearly

So often, nuance is lost in leadership. What matters are consistency and direction. In short, be true to your leadership modality. Authenticity matters.

Set clear expectations. This statement is so obvious it is too often forgotten. It is essential to let the team know what is expected of them. Team objectives are often stated, but expectations for behavior are not communicated. Make it clear how people are supposed to work together and collaborate – as part of their jobs!

Body language speaks volumes. Employees, to quote Maya Angelou, remember how you make them feel. You let people know you are displeased if you look annoyed or irritated. Crossed arms radiate defiance. Rolling of the eyes means, “you can’t be serious.” An excellent way to check on body language is to ask a trusted colleague to watch how you speak and listen.\

Keep true to form. I once heard a story of a manager who posted a smiley face on his door when he was in a good mood and a frowny face when he was in a bad mood. It was not subtle, but it communicated clearly what the boss was feeling on any given day. 

Changing it up

McVay noted that some of the team’s spirit returned when quarterback Baker Mayfield took over. New to the team and without any practice before his first appearance, Mayfield led them to victory. McVay said the fun in coaching returned after the team was out of contention. The pressure was off.

Keep in mind that leaders can and do change stripes. For example, avuncular-style leaders can become more demanding in times of crisis. And conversely, strict disciplinarian leaders loosen up in similar situations. The changeup in style is designed to keep the team focused. What is important is to communicate so that people know what you are doing and why. 

First posted on Forbes.com 0406.2023

“He met with every player, wanting to find out how the franchise could do a better job of supporting them, and he ended up doing far more listening than talking. The feedback from players convinced him that changes were needed.”

The “he” in this paragraph, penned by Detroit Free Press writers Evan Petzold and Jeff Seidel, is Scott Harris, the president of baseball operations for the Detroit Tigers. Harris, though still in his late 30s, came to the Tigers with an impressive pedigree; he served in an executive capacity with the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants. In the nearly year and a half that Harris has held this position with the Tigers, he has been a cross between a sponge and an executive. A sponge is soaking up information. An executive in making decisions.

And decisions need to be made. Owner Chris Illitch hired Harris to make some changes. And they were necessary. The Tigers have not won a World Series since 1984 and have not been in a Series in over a decade. In the 2020s, they have had a win percentage under .500.

Listen first

“It’s pretty cool what he did,” Tiger catcher Jake Rogers told the Free Press. “He did a lot more than we expected. He really listened, which is pretty cool from an owner. To have meetings with Scott Harris and listen to him and be like, ‘Hey, look, this is what the guys are saying.’ And he didn’t have to do any of it. It’s changes to literally everything.”

That one statement sums up what leaders who seek to make changes need to do before they make any significant change: listen. And listen some more. And such lessons extend far beyond the baseball diamond. Part of listening means following the way of the gemba, the Japanese term referring to “where the work is.” Harris, based in Detroit, visited all the Tiger facilities, from spring training in Lakeland, Florida, to the minor league parks. 

Among the wish list for the players were upgrades to the clubhouse, including new showers and a modernized weight room that includes cardio-strengthening. A new cafeteria was added to the spring training facilities. Harris presented this wish list to owner Illitch who approved them. While these upgrades incurred cost, they may have more than paid for themselves in terms of player goodwill.

“Little Things” matter

The lesson for managers everywhere is to pay attention to the little things. Making small changes that employees request are small in scope but can be enormous in terms of outcome. It is not the prerequisite that matters; it is the fact that a manager listens. And, like Scott Harris, willing to take these concerns to the owner who signs the check.

New facilities do not build championship teams. Players do. In that regard, Harris and his scouting team have drafted, promoted, and signed talented players to set a foundation for future success. Nothing is guaranteed in baseball – as in life – but when leaders at the top listen and act, then good things can occur.

First posted on SmartBrief 4.102024

“The more air we can put in there, the better.”

Comedian Tom Smothersmade this statement to TV critic David Bianculli in a 1997 interview for Fresh Air. “I believe that timing [is] the most important – silence is probably the most important part of music. And silence or tension is one of the most important things in comedy.”

The late Tom Smothers, along with brother Dick, were comedians whose gentle irreverence – and later outright comedic irreverence on their 1960s television show — changed the face of television comedy.

Pace Yourself

Tom’s discussion of “air” – as in a metaphorical space to breathe — gets to the heart of effective communications, so it is helpful to dissect. Let’s take each of the elements one by one.

Space. Let the message resonate. Think of a five-year-old coming home from the zoo bursting with excitement, telling you all about the lions, elephants, and ice cream treats. Their words tumble forth in a stream of consciousness. It is a word cloud rather than a story.

By contrast, listen to a masterful speech, Martin Luther King’s oration at the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington. After beginning his prepared remarks, King, reading the audience, launches into his “I Have a Dream” oratory. He utters sentences with the resonance of the pastor. He was coupled with the artful pause to give each line its due, letting the audience absorb it.

Timing. A classic moment in radio comedy was a live sketch Jack Benny performed. In the skit, the robber says, “Your money or your life?” Pause, and the audience giggles. The robber interrupts, “Your money or your life?” To which Benny, whose persona was that of a tightwad, replies, “I am thinking it over.” The audience roars.

Tension. Pauses in music, the highs and lows, create a harmonic tension that adds the elements of either drama or lightness in the measures that make the melody worth listening to. Think of the rising tension in Mahler’s Second Symphony, “The Resurrection,” which rises in crescendo, reaching a climax where the entire orchestra is engaged and released.

The same effect occurs at the end of the “Day in the Life” by the Beatles, where the symphonic sound rises only to be punctuated at the climax by the famous E major chord that caps the moment and releases the tension as the sound dissipates slowly.

Tension in communication comes when the speaker speaks slowly and deliberately, altering the tone and volume of his voice as a musician does. And with an artful use of pauses, the speaker drives home the message so the listeners hear and absorb it.

Putting it all together

Freddie Ravel, a Grammy-nominated pianist, composer and keynote speaker, puts all these elements in a text and video commentary he posted on LinkedIn. “In our day-to-day conversations, few people ever consider the power of the S P A C E between the words they say. As in great music where there is a melody and lyric that moves the listener, there too is the use of S P A C E, RHYTHM, and PACING that can make or break whether or not the message is successfully received by your clients, colleagues, or the public in general.”

Ensuring the message is “successfully received” requires practice, so here’s an exercise. Read your presentation (or something you have written) aloud as slowly as possible. Enunciate each word. Pause after every sentence. Vary your pitch. Record yourself and listen to the playback. It will help you determine where the variances in pitch and pauses work best. Remember, this is not actual presentation, it is an exercise designed to help you learn to give the words the air and the space they need to drive home your message.

Note:  For more insight into the Smothers Brothers, see David Bianculli’s book, Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.”

 First posted on Forbes.com 00.00.2024

“A great story is what results when humanizing wisdom and grace, and technical and aesthetic craft operating at their highest frequencies, kiss each other.”

So writes Gareth Higgins, an author and advocate, a peace activist who grew up in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, a period of sectarian conflict between Protestants and Catholics. One of the tools that Higgins uses is storytelling, which he uses to illustrate the concept of “belief.”

“I grew up in a society that saw them, what you could call the worst manifestation of what happens when you unconsciously accept a story of us versus them,” Gareth told me in a recent interview. “And that is the worst manifestations. You end up killing each other. And if you start from the premise that your story is correct and you don’t question your story, you might very well be likely to cause suffering to others and certainly to yourself, unless the story you believe is that the evolution of humanity is one that’s pointing toward more connection and not more separation toward more shared and individual responsibility and not more selfishness and scapegoating toward what I call community creativity and the common good.”

Existential beliefs

When you believe in something so wholeheartedly, it gives meaning to your existence, but when those beliefs conflict with what others think, there can be discord. The challenge for storytellers is to use its methods to reveal inner truths that lie underneath beliefs and, when brought to light, can create new understandings.

“And the truth is, someone always needs to go first,” says Gareth. “There always needs to be someone who has enough grounding and stability within themselves to be the first to say, I’m going to listen to you. I’m going to put aside my prejudices. I’m going to put aside my insistence in getting it my way. Now, if there’s actual physical danger or real risk in the room, we need to take steps to protect people.”

Padraig Ó Tuama, a poet, theologian and peace activist in Northern Ireland, writes, “We need stories of belonging that move us towards each other, not from each other; ways of being human that open up the possibilities of being alive together; ways of navigating our differences that deepen our curiosity, that deepen our friendship, that deepen our capacity to disagree, that deepen the argument of being alive.”

Finding commonality

When you strip away the externals, you get to the core of what people seek: equality, justice, love. What holds them apart are beliefs nurtured by generations of difference, people defining themselves by what they are not rather than what they are. Doing this opens up the possibility of creating a community.

Joining us in the interview with Gareth was Ari Weinzweig, co-founder of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, and himself, a well-published author on food, business, and leadership. “There’s a lot of anger and a lot of frustration and fear,” says Ari. “If we work together collaboratively, we can untangle all of that and create a positive outcome that would be acknowledging in Gareth’s context the truth of the difficult story of the past, but also holding a positive belief about what we can collaboratively, peacefully create together.”

The true power of storytelling lies with its capacity to provoke us to re-examine our beliefs, gain insights into the beliefs of others and then begin the process of affirming our willingness to learn and understand. Such practices are never easy, but they are necessary if we are to find ways to bridge differences as a means of creating conditions at home and at work that are nurturing, productive and safe.

Note: Click here to watch or listen to the full interview with Gareth Higgins and Ari Weinzweig. 

First posted Forbes.com 2.27.2024

If you have to decide in the heat of the moment, take a deep breath and pause for a few seconds.

That time-honored advice is easy to say, but when you are in the heat of the moment – and chaos reigns – it may be hard to remember. This situation may have happened between the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys at the end of the football game. 

The Lions had marched down the field and scored a touchdown. Trailing by a point, they opted for a two-point conversion rather than a one-point kick. And they prevailed on a gadget play that saw quarterback Jared Goff hit Taylor Decker with a nifty pass in the end zone. 

There is only one problem. The head referee said that Decker, a lineman, had not reported to him before the play; therefore, he was an ineligible receiver, which means the conversion was invalid. [Linemen who may touch the ball when play begins must give a heads-up to the referee so he can let the other team know in advance. Silly perhaps, but them’s the rules.]

Head coach Dan Campbell, a former tight end – big, burly and imposing – was furious. He decided to go for two points again, and a Cowboy player, Micah Parsons, jumped off-sides, which gave the Lion another try. The Lions tried a third time. And failed. 

Campbell, who wrestled with his composure after the game, kept his post-game remarks short and curt. He defended his play calling and the actions of his player, Decker, who said he had reported to the referee. The referee did not hear him and confused Decker with another lineman.

The bigger picture

Asa Lions fan more familiar with the Lions’ futility than success, I understand Campbell’s decision. One of the reasons that Campbell is the right coach for the Lions in their three-year long makeover effort is his passion as well as his ability to instill that passion in his players.

However, as an observer of leadership decision-making, Campbell was right in going for two the first time but not a second or third time when the odds were against him. Kicking the extra point would have sent the game into overtime. 

No team likes to play in overtime, where anything can happen, especially if your team fails to win the toss and the other team scores a touchdown before letting your team go on offense. [If the opponent scores a field goal, the other team that lost the coin toss can go on offense

That final play and the referee’s decision will be debated for years. Like many underdog teams, Lions fans feel that the NFL favors teams with more extensive fan bases and winning traditions. There is no proof, but recall that “fan” is short for “fanatic.” [And the Lions have been wronged before. In 2015, against the same Cowboys, the referees negated a pass interference call that stymied Lion’s momentum and perhaps their chances of winning the game.] 

Take stock of the moment.

Regardless of the moment’s mood, leaders owe it to their teams to make the best decision. Campbell is certain he did. In his post-game comments, Campbell affirmed his decision to go for it—no second thoughts. “I told the offense that we were going down — 1:41 left — that we would go down and score and that we were going to go for two and finish this game out. I told them that.”

In his favor, the Lions had already clinched the division title and home-field advantage for the first game, so a loss in this game is not a season-ender. The rest of us who make decisions when the heat is on may recall this game and think twice. 

The point is not to second-guess yourself. It is to make sure you have your wits about you to make a deliberate choice. Spur-of-the-moment decisions in the heat of conflict may not always play out as intended. 

Note: The NFL may wish to tighten up the lineman reporting rule in the future. My colleague Todd Cherches, a consultant, professor, and author of Visual Leadership, emailed me, saying, “There needs to be a better system for ensuring that a referee hears a player ‘Reporting’ that they are eligible. Perhaps something more ‘visual’ – like a hand gesture by the player (hand-tap-of-heart?), followed by a sign by the referee indicating, “I heard you” (perhaps a simple thumbs-up?).” 

Good advice, Todd. Your call NFL Rules Committee.

First posted on Forbes.com 1.01.2024

We are living in a toxic stew of misinformation, disinformation, and hyperpartisanship that is ripping the fabric of our society apart. Some folks are despairing. One person is not. He is William Ury, who, for the past 40 years, has been working with people seeking to negotiate the most challenging crises from South Africa and the Middle East, as well as in corporate board rooms and union bargaining sessions.

His first book, Getting to Yes, published in 1981, has become an international best-seller, racking up over 15 million copies sold. (Several copies were given to Martin McGuinness, a former leader in the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland, where Ury has done work.) Ury’s newest book is POSSIBLE: How We Survive (and Thrive) in an Age of Conflict. Ury spoke to me in a recent interview about the new book, and he began by calling himself a “possibilist.”

Seeking transformation in conflict

“You believe in human possibility, you believe in growth, you believe in grace.” says Ury. “And what it means is when you see an obstacle, you look for where are the possibilities. You look for where is the potential, even the small potential to begin to change that situation bit by bit.” As Ury explains, ”All of us have for curiosity, for creativity, for collaboration, and apply it to these thorny, sticky, troubling trick conflicts that we face. Because I believe if we can transform our conflicts, we can transform our lives, we can transform our world.”

Ury told me he is an “anthropologist by training” and “a negotiator, mediator by profession.” Through his work, he has realized that “conflict is something natural. It’s part of life and it can be perfectly healthy.” Eliminating conflict per se is not the goal. “It’s about whether can we transform conflict. Can we change the form from destructive fighting? Vicious fighting into constructive, creative, open Negotiation where we lean into, we embrace conflict and we see what we can do.”

Three-step model

In his book Possible, Ury presents a three-step model for negotiating: Balcony, Bridge and Third Side.

Balcony is finding a way to step away from yourself. “As the old saying goes, when you’re angry, you will make the best speech you’ll ever regret,” says Ury. “And so what I find successful negotiators doing is they take a step back from the situation. It’s almost like you imagine that you’re negotiating on a stage and you go to a mental and emotional balcony overlooking that stage, a place of calm, a place of perspective, a place where you can see the larger picture.” That becomes a “foundation.” The bottom line, says Ury, is that “Negotiation is an inside job. It works from the inside out. So, we need to start with going to the balcony.”

Bridge is the process of adopting another perspective. “We get into conflict, we take positions and we got to dig into our positions and we kind of push, and the more we push, the other side pushes back. So we end up at a kind of standoff.”

There is another way, says Ury. “What I find successful negotiators do is the opposite of pushing, which is they attract instead of making it harder for the other side, which is where we sometimes go in conflict; our job is to make it easier for them, easier for them to make the decision we want them to make.”

By shifting to what the other person or party’s concerns, we “begin the conversation where their thinking is, what their concerns are, what their fears are, and proceed to build them a bridge over the giant chasm that separates us, that chasm of unmet needs, dissatisfaction, baggage from the past, all that stuff. We need to build them an attractive golden bridge moving in the direction we want them to move.”B

The Third Side is a type of leadership that looks at stakeholders not directly involved in the negotiation process. “We’ve got common interests, we’ve got a common goal, we’ve got a family here, we’ve got a community. It’s that third side that can help us go to the balcony, help us calm down, help us build that bridge, can bring us together, play all those roles. So it’s basically in these very difficult situations that we face, we need to go to the balcony. We need to build that bridge, but we also often need to engage that third side.”

Room for optimism

As measured by polling data, public opinion shows that “more Americans still believe it’s possible to disagree in a healthy way,” says Ury. “More Americans still believe that it’s our responsibility to reach out to people with whom we have different points of view… That’s where our hope is. It is in mobilizing the third side, which is this power, this latent power that exists in every situation, which can be used to help turn an impossible situation.”

Another aspect of William Ury became apparent before he came on screen for our video interview. I could see him, but he could not see me. He was smiling and continued smiling for the entire length of our interview. His demeanor is open and generous; it is no wonder people trust him for his insights. He projects wisdom, and all the while, he is smiling.

First posted on Forbes.com 3.27.2024

What goes through an executive’s head when they need to make an important decision and communicate it to a live audience?

What should the executive say? How shall he present his ideas? What tone should she strike? Should the executive raise past disagreements? Or should they open the door for future and more positive relations?

These are the questions that we see Aleksander Čeferin wrestle with as he considers his speech to fellow members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the media in the wake of the breakup of the nascent Super League. Ceferin allowed a camera crew to document his thinking process as he prepared for this speech in Montreux, Switzerland, in April 2021. The scene is part of the 4-part documentary series Super League: The War for Football, airing on Apple TV+.

The backstory

The series is a fascinating inside look at the business of football and the powers that control the sport. The series gives voice not only to the owners of the football clubs but also to the fans who are passionate about the sport. Ceferin, a lawyer by training from Slovenia, is the pivotal figure in the series. Opposite him is Andrea Angelli, head of Juventus FC and part of a legendary family of automotive industrialists. Angelli, a one-time friend of Ceferin, is a key figure, along with the owners of two Spanish clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona, trying to create this “super league.” The issue is, of course, money. The big clubs want more and more because their clubs generate the most income. The smaller clubs want to remain solvent. Adding to Ceferin’s issue is his perceived betrayal by his one-time friend, Andrea Angelli.

So what Ceferin will say in his speech is essential. Will he take a hardline, or will he open the door to the clubs that sought to break away? His reasoning is statesman-like. He needs the support of the major clubs to fund the efforts of UEFA, an association of some 55 countries and hundreds of professional clubs at every level. At the same time, he must provide leadership to the lesser-earning clubs whose solvency – as well as the future of the sport itself – depends on competent and professional leadership.

What to say and why

The lesson for senior leaders is that what you say matters. You may be roiling inside over a slight – real or imagined. You represent not merely yourself or your feelings but the present and future of the organization. To align your priorities with your feelings, here are some suggestions.

Know your mission. Any presentation is fundamental to knowing what you want to say and why you are saying it. Important presentations must complement the work that the organization does.

Know your values. What we stand for is integral to such presentations. Highlight what your organization believes in as a throughline for your narrative.

Act with grace. When tempers are frayed, leaders argue their point, but they take the high road. When speaking after tough negotiations, address your rivals as colleagues. With the three breakaway clubs, he took a hard line. 

You are making the right choices in what you say matters. Ceferin took a firm stance toward the breakaway clubs and, in doing so, maintained the unity UEFA needs to succeed. That said, the concept of the Super League is not dead; it will remain an issue for years to come.

The same applies to leaders. Major decisions determine the future of the enterprise. More findings about important issues will continue to arise, and how an executive handles them will measure their leadership.

First posted on Forbes.com 3.01. 2023

“The research on mentoring is clear. Those who are mentored, out-earn and outperform those who are not. They make higher salaries, get promoted more often, have greater job and career satisfaction and lower rates of burnout. For organizations that invest in mentoring their employees, they benefit from higher productivity and greater loyalty.”

As stated in the above press materials for The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring: A Complete Guide to Effective Mentoringby Dr. Ruth Gotian and Andy Lopata, the case for mentoring’s usefulness is quite clear. The challenge is implementing programs where mentoring can be accessible, equitable and measurable.

Running a Mentoring Program

Initiation and maintenance of mentoring typically belong to three functions: human resources, leadership and development and volunteer efforts. In all three, it is important to select the right mentors and match them with candidates seeking mentoring. It will not always work, but if the program is rigorous, good matches will follow.

Additionally, mentoring programs can embrace “the outside world,” finding mentors and mentees from outside the organization. The authors call this “cross-pollinating.” 

As the authors write, “Bringing together mentors and mentees from different worlds can increase the range of ideas brought to challenges.” Outside perspectives help mentees break through established “ways of doing things” and open new avenues of discovery and growth.

Mel Noakes co-founded a free mentoring program called Elevate with Max Fellows. Noakes told the authors. “By going outside your organisation, you gain trust and confidence that you can be honest, that your reality isn’t going to lead to challenges internally. Additionally, we find that internal mentoring within the same organization can become very tactical and transactional.”

The relationship

Mentoring is founded on a relationship founded upon trust. As such, trust is earned. The authors quote Megan Reitz co-author of Speak Up who says, “If you [the mentor] are distracted, impatient, frustrated, bored or judgemental you will silence the other person and so creating an open environment is less about trying to fix the person who is remaining silent, telling them to be braver, and more about creating an environment where they don’t have to be so brave in the first place.” In other words, if you are mentoring – or being mentored – you need to be attentive, focused and engaged.

The Mentoring Check

The book’s conclusion adds insight into checking yourself as a mentor.

The first step in becoming a more effective mentor is self-reflection. We encourage you to review your existing mentoring relationships, whether formal or informal. What kind of difference – or benefit – are you delivering to your mentee? “Remember,” the authors write, “mentorship knows no boundaries; it’s about sharing and uplifting others.”

Mentees also need to evaluate their learnings. “The mentor–mentee relationship is a two-way street,” write the authors. “And it’s crucial that you receive the support you require to continue your growth and development.” Mentoring can also be a community effort. Receiving support from more than one mentor.

Mentoring is an investment in the future that benefits both those who receive it and those who give it and in return organizations benefit.

Note: The authors provide a handy self-assessment for those who want to test their mentoring skills at ftmentoring.scoreapp.com

First posted on Forbes.com 6.042024

Every leader will have to eat crow at some point or another. They will have to acknowledge a wrong decision and its consequences.

How to do it is essential, so I recommend watching one of the very last scenes of the Danish political drama, Borgen: The Power and the Glory. In this scene, Birgitte Nyborg, the central character in this long multi-part drama acknowledges her missteps. (For fans of the series, I will avoid spoilers and focus on behaviors universal to leadership communications.)

By way of background, Birgitte (played by Sidse Babett Knudsen) is now Foreign Minister (having once been Prime Minister) and is looking perhaps for a way back to the top job. The series focuses on drilling for oil in Greenland, a Danish protectorate that is resentful, to say the least, of its colonization. At a party conference, Birgitte must address her party, one she helped to form, and under the parliamentary system, it is a senior member of the ruling coalition.

Be honest

When Birgitte takes the stage, there is an air of skepticism. She is battling issues of trust; in a way she is competing with the image of her former self. “Pride,” wrote the Catholic monk Thomas Merton, “makes us artificial, and humility makes us real.” Of course, one must be proud of one’s leadership ability, but when that pride overshadows mistakes, it is time to take stock. And in her speech, Birgitte does just that.

Acknowledge roots. Let the audience know the shared past. A senior leader is part of the culture. They are rooted in the vision and mission. More importantly, they share the same values. Remind the audience of what you and the audience believe and why it is essential. The mission is what the organization does. It is a roadmap for the vision. Reminding people of their mission and what they need to do is essential.

Admit mistakes. Sometimes crises occur because leaders fail. Either they plunge into ventures based on false assumptions, fail to keep abreast of trends, and then get bushwhacked by something unexpected. Sometimes leaders put people into management positions that are above their capabilities. When there is a failure, the leader must step to the fore and admit the mistake.

Make amends. Discuss what specific actions you will take to rectify the situation. Own the problem and enlist others in helping you find the right solutions.

Shine the light on others. Leader accomplishes little by themselves. Their role is to shepherd the forces to achieve the mission. Cite the achievements of the team. Tell hero stories about how people have achieved results against the odds. 

Call to action. A speech that calls for unity must ask something of its audience. The “ask” can be to continue what they are doing, but often it means going the extra step. Not working harder, but working differently. Call for people to work together for a common cause and collaboratively share ideas and action steps. 

Leadership moment

Crisis reveals character, and those leaders who face adversity head-on are those who are worthy of our followership. Critical to gaining trust is admitting mistakes and making amends. Leaders who do that demonstrate dispel the air of invincibility in favor of the cloak of vulnerability. Humility is essential.

Bram Stoker, the creator of Dracula, said, “We learn from failure, not from success!” That aphorism applies not only to fictional characters but also to living, breathing leaders responsible for the organization’s future and the people in it.

First posted on SmartBrief.com 8.01.2022

Simplicity is often regarded as the Holy Grail within design circles. Striving to ensure that form follows function is a mantra that, while stated but not always practiced. Too often, a project that begins with the simplest of intentions ends up hopelessly complex. Camels—so the joke goes—were designed by a committee.

No less challenge is the desire for simplicity in human relations. Yet, since all of us are different, and the permutations among us seem infinite, striving for simplicity may be a fool’s errand. Or not. While one size does not fit all, those in charge of getting things done can make simplicity their mantra.

How? By the way they behave. And here is where the desire for human connection makes the most sense. We all, or most of us, do want to be connected to others. We seek to be understood, appreciated, and loved even. That is where simplicity enters in three ways: head, heart and spirit.

Let’s take them one at a time.

Head is rationality. Leading with our minds leads us to consider what others want. It means we must deliver conditions for them to succeed. With such logic, leaders know they must set expectations, communicate them, support the work effort, insist on accountability, and acknowledge the results. Within these steps, accountability is essential. The leader sets the tone and follows through.

Heart is emotionality. Leading with our hearts challenges us to deliver what others want. Knowing what other want is not the same as practicing it. And that’s where the heart comes it. We feel compelled to act. Not because we have to, but because we want to. We genuinely desire to see others succeed. It enriches us as much as it does them.

Spirit is transcendent. Leading with the spirit provokes us to meet another’s aspirations for something better. Purpose is the driver because it challenges individuals to find their purpose. Within an organizational construct, the leader abides by the purpose of ensuring that everyone understands it. 

Know thyself

What has been described are the leader’s responsibilities for simplicity, but there is something else. First, the leader must understand herself. She knows her purpose and how her purpose complements the whole. Such alignment between the intrinsic and extrinsic purpose may not always be possible. Organizations do not fulfill our every need. We as humans must find our purpose and act on it. Ideally, what we want to do personally can match our work, but we know it does not. Understanding that dichotomy is essential to self-knowledge.

The defining purpose for ourselves can be a journey. It is often an awakening for others, a realization that this is what I was born to do. For others, purpose is revealed in their work, acknowledging that I am doing what I should be doing. It is fulfilling. 

“Life,” said Confucius, “is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” Yes, it is but striving for simplicity requires time to discover and a lifetime to practice.

First posted on Forbes.com 11.12.2021