Leader Business Update

Many of you have written me to give feedback on the Leader Business book and to ask how sales are going. On the former, I thank you for your thoughts and am humbled each time I hear about one person who is applying even a single thing from the book to their own leadership journey. Oh…and I know about the typo on page 12. Haha!

As to the latter, sales are going pretty good…considering. Considering that I am my own marketing team. Considering that my marketing team is in Afghanistan. And considering that my marketing strategy currently consists only of asking my friends to dish out $20 or so for a copy. Considering all of this…sales are going pretty good!

***Shameless plug. Could I ask you to help join my marketing team and perhaps broaden the outreach for the book? Is there anyone you know who might benefit from a discussion of leadership based on how we do it in the military, and who really needs a copy of the book? Is there a group to whom I might speak (so far I’ve done two video presentations and one SKYPE discussion from my “hooch” here in Kabul), sharing some of the lessons in the book and how what we are doing over here continues to validate the philosophies that I wrote about in Leader Business? Would you consider an investment in your own team, perhaps with a bulk order for the holidays? (I have even autographed a dozen or so for one group to give out as gifts to guest speakers! I am happy to help and humbled to contribute in any way I can!). Perhaps you have a leader development program that might benefit from reviewing this book together and answering the discussion questions at the end of each chapter. End of the shameless plug. Haha!***

As for me, in my last two blog posts, I have written about Decision Points (Deciding to decide) and our STOP DOING lists (things we must terminate, defer, or decline in order to maintain focus on our priorities). Both of these have come together in my professional life as I have DECIDED to transition out of the Army! Yes, at the completion of this duty assignment here in Afghanistan, and after 26 years in the Army, I suppose I am ready to move on to something else. I think it's time to do something different…and look forward to the challenge.

But for now, I have 8 months remaining on my tour of duty…and a whole bunch of MISSION in front of me. I work with a great group of people here in Afghanistan and have a job I can only dream about (When will I next get to be the CEO of a $5B construction company?). The challenges are enormous but I am reminded every day – THAT’S WHY THEY NEED ME! If you are on facebook, check out our page and some of the videos about our experiences over here in Afghanistan: Afghanistan Engineer District - North.

I am learning daily the importance of leadership and reminded that the timeless principles that I wrote about in Leader Business really do work. But, I also know I have to do more than write about them, or give motivational speeches to help people believe in them. I have to live them every day. Leadership is not what we say (or write). It is what we DO. Sometimes I do a really good job at it. Sometimes…I goof things up. But I’m giving it my best, learning from each experience, and getting better every day.

That’s what I wrote about in the book. That’s what successful leaders everywhere do. And that’s what I call…Leader Business! Hooah!

The "Stop Doing" List

Hello Friends!

Greetings once again from Afghanistan. As most of you know, I am deployed with the US Army, working with the US Army Corps of Engineers. Our mission is primarily construction projects in support of the Afghan Security Forces and overall Counter Insurgency Operations here in country. As for me…my mission is leadership. Or, shall we say…Leader Business!

As I begin this discussion, would you join me in giving a hearty “shout out” to our Veterans on this Veteran’s Day? It is because of brave, selfless warriors like them that we can enjoy the freedoms and blessings of our lives. Let’s not forget them, let’s never leave any behind, and let’s remember to thank them – and their families – for their sacrifices, wherever and whenever they may have served! Hooah!

In the last post, I described the importance of identifying decision points – where we decide to decide – well ahead of the actual decision. This provides leaders the flexibility to influence the outcome and the ability to adjust the team, align resources, and keep the mission on track.

While we may not know it, we face decision points every day. Unfortunately, we watch most of them go by without action. Disciplined teams with disciplined leaders are talking about decisions regularly, keeping everyone on high alert for the triggers that suggest a decision is pending. This highlights the importance of regular, mission-focused communication. Keeping everyone’s head in the game is enabled by this major leadership responsibility. When people know what to look for (triggers or road signs of the pending decision), when they are kept in the loop about what is happening around them (we call this situational awareness), and when we include their input in our discussions about future decisions, options, and how we might shift our plan depending on what happens, we are rarely surprised by the inevitable forks in the road.

In any case, one of the important decisions we have been making lately surrounds what we should STOP DOING. Most of it surrounds our core competencies, our primary revenue generators, and our main mission. Everything else needs to be examined within this framework to determine whether we should stop doing it.

Like many of you, we have more MISSION than we have people. In the resource constrained environments in which we operate (to include here in Afghanistan), we often find that we eventually run out of resources, but never lack for things to do. Some of those things…are really not important. Many of them can be done by someone else. Others don’t make us any money. Most of them are distracters, consumers of resources (especially time) that we need to put into our main mission area.

So, we have hit some important decision points recently and decided – to STOP DOING some of those things. We were putting energy into a couple of projects that started to become more trouble than they were worth. We need those people focused on our priorities. We stopped doing them. I talked to my leaders about how we would accept new projects…and what we would leave for others. It simply comes down to the fact that saying YES to everything eventually maxes out resources and reduces productivity and output. Sometimes we have to say, NO.

None of this comes easy. Most organizations, and especially the one I get to lead, have a hard time with this. We like to be solution providers. We enjoy new challenges. Our tendency is to take on more and more. But there comes a point where we begin to water down our primary purpose, lose focus on our core competencies, and threaten our ability to accomplish the mission. That’s when we have to examine our team and build a STOP DOING list.

So, what about you? What can you STOP DOING? What might you outsource to someone for whom that task might actually be a core competency? What non-revenue generating, non-priority mission, non-HEDGEHOG (my Jim Collins analogy of the day) task or event should you stop, defer, or eliminate? Could you do as we have done, gather your key leaders, and ask this question: What can we STOP DOING to improve our output? What about in your personal life? What things are you putting time into that add no value, take away time from what is really important, and should similarly be examined for inclusion on this list?

You are at an important decision point right now. What you do with this, what you STOP DOING, might give you the energy you need to improve your team. Just having this discussion might help people understand how focused you are on your mission. They will get a clear picture of how critical you view your priorities and how disciplined you will be to eliminate anything that gets in the way. And so, my friends, it is time to decide to decide. In this case, to decide…to STOP. That’s…Leader Business!