A Week of Learning

Friends,

Can I start by apologizing for doing such a poor job of staying up with this blog? While I have no excuse (see my thoughts on "No Excuse" leadership), I have been going a million miles an hour and have been focusing on the urgent at the expense of the important. Ever been there? I've been on the road for 17 of the last 19 nights. Ugh! I definitely need to slow down!

So while I have not been writing, I have sure been thinking. The events of the world around us and in my own life have provided a number of opportunities to ponder various elements of leadership -- my own and others. In fact, this week has given me a number of things to think about:

-- I watched as Brett Favre almost led the Minnesota Vikings to the Super Bowl at the age of 40. In the discussion of leaders knowing when to hang them up, Brett can sure justify his remaining in the game. Despite the cynics, he had the best statistical year of his career. Let's hear it for the 40+ year old athletes! And let's hear it for leaders with the passion for life and for their profession who leave it all on the field -- every snap, every game!

-- I smiled with appreciation when Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner announced his retirement at the age of 38. This was a superstar who left the game on his own terms. His story is an inspirational one. Undrafted out of college in 1994, bagging groceries and stocking shelves in 1995, Kurt went on to play in 3 Super Bowls, winning one, and set numerous records for his position. Along the way, he remained humble, was a model citizen, and demonstrated true leadership on and off the field.

-- I went to a dinner where former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich spoke. That's me and the Speaker in the grainy photo up above. One does not have to agree with his politics to admire his vision, his leadership, and his intellect. He spoke with confidence for 30 minutes -- no notes and no teleprompter -- weaving in historical vignettes (military and political) while connecting with his audience. Very impressive.

-- I had the experience of a lifetime when I was invited to the State of the Union address at the Capitol in Washington, DC. The thrill of being in that small room with the Supreme Court justices, cabinet secretaries, all the Congress, the VP, the First Lady, and President Obama made for an amazing night. While the speech was long, the President did what he does best -- communicating his ideas in a powerful way. He identified his priorities, talked about aligning resources, and broke his vision down into ACTIONS that will become his administration's "marching orders" for the next year. I can't say that I agreed with everything he said but I did appreciate the way he said it. (Sorry...no cameras allowed in the room but...you can see the picture of my ticket!)

-- In between visits on Capitol Hill with six Congressional Members from my delegation, I spent the week at my agency headquarters in Washington DC aligning our strategic plan. It was great to see that the tasks and initiatives launched by my team in Los Angeles do in fact contribute to success at the higher level. While we are still struggling as an organization with how and what to measure to ensure we are on the right track, I have full confidence that we are doing the right things. Strategic planning, no matter how painful the process, has definite value. Without that clear, consistent, and fully-aligned road map, we just cannot have certainty that we will get to where our goals and objectives point us.

Different stages, different lessons. This was all in just one week. I can't wait to see what happens next week! Bring it on. But first, I'd like to sleep in my own bed for a few nights! Ha!

That's Leader Business!

Leader Business Question #2

Q. How do you respond when someone poses a solution to a problem that is too easy or simply too good to be true?

A. Ask..."And then what?"

A key skill of a leader is to be able to consider 2nd and 3rd order effects. Good leaders are rarely surprised by what happens and, in the very rare case that they are, they have a response ready to go. This is not a superpower -- although it's sometimes okay if our teammates think it is! This capability comes from the constant thinking about what happens next. It goes like this:

-- Okay, if this plan is executed, what will happen next?
-- What will happen if it does not succeed?
--What do we need to do to sustain the momentum if it does work and how do we mitigate against the possibility of failure?
-- What if we do fail? How do we recover?
-- What happens next? What happens after that?

Leadership so often comes down to the consideration of moves. It is like a chess match. What will you do next? What will your competitors do? How will this play in the media? What will we do then? It is this series of questions that differentiates the professional warrior from the amateur one. It is this level of preparedness that makes good leaders ready for anything that happens, while the bad ones act surprised at every twist.

You've heard it said: There are three kinds of leaders in the world -- those who make things happen, those who let things happen, and those who wonder what just happened! Making things happen, setting your team up to be able to exploit every opportunity, comes from asking these questions and thinking through moves well before they play out.

In the military, we often think in terms of: ACTION -- REACTION -- COUNTERACTION. Commanders constantly are wargaming different scenarios so that they are prepared if their plans don't work...and if they do. They are thinking about the enemy, what their intentions might be, and how they might respond to anything they might do. These wargames occur formally (as part of the development of plans and strategies) and informally (in their minds or over a cup of coffee with a teammate).

Too often we accept easy solutions to problems because we get lazy and that is what we want to hear. We want our solutions to be as simple as:

-- We'll just close a number of stores and cut our expenses? OK, what will this do to customer service?
-- We'll just charge for checking luggage. OK, won't people take more luggage as carry-ons (and what problems does this pose when boarding?) and won't our competitors take advantage of this?
-- We'll make housing affordable by making loans that defer payments until down the road? OK, what happens when those payments come due?
-- We'll make (insert campaign promise) free for (insert constituency). Really? And how will we pay for that?
-- We'll send a combat unit to (insert HOT SPOT) and they will be welcomed with open arms. OK, how does it end? What are our success criteria?

Credible, capable leaders have to think about implications of their actions. They do this by asking these kinds of questions. What if? And then what? What if it succeeds? What if it fails?

You see, it is not a superhuman power to see 2nd and 3rd order effects. It is a learned skill. Good leaders don't take the easy answer. They push back, lift up the hood, and ask hard questions. Think about that the next time someone sells you that get-rich, get-lean, get-organized scheme. I tell them...GET LOST. Or I ask them..."And then what?" That's usually enough for them to back away. That's Leader Business!

Succession Planning

Opening kickoff for the NCAA football National Championship game. It doesn't get any more exciting than that. And for my daughter and I (and 94,000+ of our closest friends) it was time to get it on. The pre-game festivities, the talking heads, and the hype were all finished. It was time to play the game. #1 Alabama versus #2 Texas for all the marbles!

Who knew that 5 offensive plays into the game, the depth of Texas would be tested at the most critical position? Yes, after 5 plays Colt McCoy, the winningest quarterback in college football history, was done. Bring in the backup -- an 18 year old with almost no meaningful game experience. It would be his job to snap on his chin strap and try to lead his team to victory.

Let's talk leadership here, can we?

It was clear that this young man was not prepared for the situation he was in, on that night, on that stage. He was not familiar with the game plan. He had not been given enough repetitions to be able to step in and lead his team. He was not ready for the speed of the game nor the decisions he would have to make along the way. (Mind you, I don't think any backup freshman quarterback with limited game experience would truly be ready to step up in that situation.)

It certainly got me thinking about how well prepared my team is to lose a key leader. Similarly, I am not sure I have done all I need to do to set them up for success in my absence. Do we have depth in critical positions? Could the second-teamers step in and would they be able to maintain momentum and accomplish the mission?

Succession planning is hard! Here are 4 things to think about regarding preparing back-ups for success:

1. Backups need exposure to the game plan. Do we include 2nd and 3rd tier leaders when we establish strategic plans and set goals...or just the "inner circle" leadership team? The more we can expose others to the sessions in which we establish our plans and strategies, the more likely they will be comfortable with executing them should they be thrust into leadership roles. Things like vision, strategies, goals and objectives must be shared with the entire team so that everyone is prepared to step up when called.

2. Backups need game experience. Are we empowering our 2nd and 3rd tier team members to truly be leaders when they are in leadership position or do we just ask them to hold down the fort? Do we give people the chance to truly be in charge when we go on vacation or are out of the office or do they just keep the seat warm? Do we provide true, meaningful leadership opportunities to lower-level team members such that they can establish "muscle density" on things like calling plays (communicating orders and instructions), reading defenses (decision making under pressure), and scoring touchdowns (accomplishing the mission).

3. Simulations and contingency plans must address the loss of key leaders. Most of our "what if" drills involve things like the loss of a key customer, the failure of an important system or piece of equipment, or the interruption in the supply chain. But "what if" we lose a key leader? Are we prepared? Have we practiced under those conditions? Have we established contingency plans so that we can quickly integrate new leaders without losing momentum? Are we prepared to adjust the game plan to be able to operate under the new conditions and still accomplish the mission?

4. We need depth at every position. As leaders, we really do need to look at whether we have single points of failure within our organization. Perhaps we need to start by examining whether our teams are ready to win -- without US! Are we grooming successors and are they ready to step in right away? Similarly, do we have depth at other key positions? A team can be just as challenged with the loss of a lineman or a linebacker as with the loss of the quarterback. Succession planning needs to look across the team and ensure that the team is built to last.

It was a great game. While my team lost, my daughter and I had a blast. We both lost our voices cheering on that freshman quarterback. He did okay, getting better and gaining confidence with each snap of the ball. Who knows how prepared he was for the stage on which he was thrust? I doubt many of us could have pulled off what he did that night, almost leading his team to victory. It certainly highlighted the awesome responsibility we have as leaders to ensure our team has the depth to continue the mission -- no matter who is in charge. That's winning football. And that's -- Leader Business!

Onward to 2010!

Friends,

Happy New Year! A new year gives us all a chance to reflect on the opportunities that lie in front of us. The future is ripe with possibility – if we are bold enough to go for it! I don’t know about you, but I am ready to think big, to be aggressive, and to seize the day! I have goals for my personal and professional life and am ready to get after them. “Targets Up!”

Can I take a minute and update you on Leader Business? While not exactly burning up the internet, we did just have our 15,000th visitor to this site. (I need to weave in some juicy stories about Brittney or Tiger and I will probably get that kind of volume every day! I am in Los Angeles, after all!) I hope that the messages that we talk about on these pages are resonating with some of you and that you are sharing them with your friends. Please continue to do so and encourage your friends to subscribe (as a couple hundred of you already have) so they don’t miss any of our discussion topics. And thanks to those of you who comment! You all know the power of the blog as a 2-way conversation!

You may have noticed (okay…you probably didn’t) that I haven’t been posting as often as I once was. I have started working on Leader Business – the book! It will be a compilation of the sorts of topics we talk about here on this site and will be sort of poor man’s leadership development course. The leadership lessons I have accumulated over my career at places like West Point, Army Ranger School, and the Army’s National Training Center will be the foundation for this project. Stay tuned.

I hope to have this project completed before…I deploy to Afghanistan in July. I will be leaving Los Angeles and taking command of an Army Corps of Engineers unit in Kabul. I am looking forward to the challenges that leadership in a combat zone, focused on construction and water resource issues, might present. I am confident that my future teammates will bring me up to speed and I hope to be able to contribute to the success of our mission there.

In the interim, I have a lot to do. My New Year’s commitments include some of the same things you likely have on your respective resolution lists:

-- Listen more and talk less.
-- Have shorter meetings. My teammates will be thrilled with this one.
-- Be less of a cynic and more of an encourager. Be positive.
-- Reward people more. A praise or two per day over the next six months will help people understand how truly proud and grateful I am to serve with them.
-- Follow up / follow through on the many tasks that I am working with my team. An action passed is NOT an action completed!
-- Accomplish the mission and put a good transition plan in place. I need to set up my replacement for success.
-- Stop wasting time! I have too much to do. Read more, write more, and spend more time with family and friends.

So, enough about me…what about you? (See resolution #1 above!) How can I help hold you accountable on your commitments? What can I do to further our friendship or enable your success? Please let me know!

Happy New Year everyone. Let’s get to work! That’s Leader Business. Hooah!

P.S. Thanks to Dan McCarthy for including my posts on leadership lessons at the Army Ranger School in his “Best of 2009” Leadership Development Carnival! Please check it out!