Daily Dose: Learning

Learner.  That is my dominant theme on Gallup’s Strengths-finder.  It aligns with how I live each day…like a student-athlete…although college graduation is decades behind me now.  Adam Kayce got me thinking about learning this week when he posed the question: “What is your learning edge?”  How am I learning these days?  What is pushing my intellectual horizons? 

I learned during my dear undergrad years at Yale to appreciate and embrace synthesis.  Original thought drawn from countless resources, academic and otherwise, is pure human art in my view.  The confluence of what we read, experience, think, dream is original for each one of us…a mosaic as unique as our own thumb print. 

Often an odd mix of an article about sustainable building in Portland, a conversation with a colleague about a meeting we struggled through last night, a passage of a book about the fear of rejection during a sales call, and a killer tempo workout at the gym creates breakthrough learning for me.  There is something about the work of processing these ideas and experiences intermittently, that synthesis of “stuff”, that enables a new view, a new curiosity, a new learning for me.

 

Reflecting back on my learning this week I have mixed these things in the bowl: excerpts form Susan Scott and Gregg Thompson, a fantastic quote from Bill George (“authentic leaders understand that leading is about serving others”), the goose-bump generating intro of Farrah Gray’s Reallionaire, wonderful, hand-written notes from some great kids that I coach at SEI, and 99 Ways To Open a Bottle of Beer by Brett Stern.  I did a good deal of mixing during a 13 mile hike in the Columbia Gorge.  All of that hard pumping blood was good for the brain cells…a day in the life of a student-athlete, indeed.

What are you learning these days?

Front Line Leaders: an S.O.S.

Rubber.  Road.  Where the real deal happens.  The front line.  The crossroads between your company and your customers.  The interface between machinery and people.  The place where quality, safety, innovation, productivity, service and the zillion other things that define your business live and breathe day in and day out.  Who is on the front lines for you?  Who are those front line leaders who are waist deep in the battle leading your teams to success today?  Do they have the tools, skills and resources they require to successfully execute the huge task before them today? 

Several weeks ago while working with a new client, I met a fantastic team member whose name shall be Tim for the sake of this story.  Tim was a first a rather reserved thinker.  He was calm and focused and spoke thoughtfully.  During our time together he took pages of notes and answered all of my questions in a concise, professional manner.  I couldn’t help but notice that Tim was somehow, in some way “off his game”.  There was some kind of uneasiness seeping out of his gut.  Then, through our exchange we hit the chord.  Tim revealed that he was really struggling in his new role: team leader.  For several years up until just a few months ago, Tim was a stellar individual contributor for this small business services company.  He wrote great code.  He solved technical problems quickly.  He got his work done right and on time.  For this he was rewarded with a promotion from individual contributor to team leader.  It is a promotion that Tim is still having a difficult time celebrating several months later.   

Renewable Energy: Authentic Leadership

I was attending a business meeting yesterday during which about a half dozen teams stood up and presented their projects.  About 4 presentations into the meeting I felt a stir in the room. There was a rise in the energy whizzing around and through the rows of round tables.  I sensed that the post-lunch pulse in the room was lifting.  The source was not obvious at first and then all of a sudden it was.  Sunshine.  Sunshine took over the podium and captured the audience with her effervescent presence.  She made some reference to the notion that people who sit at round tables and listen to presentations get bored after which she declared “I am your espresso!” Yes!  This was not Sunshine as you might know it…you know, rainbows, smiley faces, butterflies and teddy bears kind of sunshine.  No.  This was the real deal.  This was Sunshine, putting her authentic self out there, on display… an energy force to be reckoned with.  I sat up straight and listened. 

Something incredibly magical occurs when a person emits energy through the sharing of their authentic self.  The landscape changes.  Possibilities emerge.  We want to become part of that energy field… because perhaps just by being surrounded by that energy, the best of our own selves may be revealed.   Some leaders think they need to “motivate the troops”.  A cardboard speech and a slap on the back and we’re off, right?  Well, forget that “save the cheerleader, save the world” stuff.  We don’t need cheerleaders (they sure didn’t help the Cavaliers, did they?  Sorry LeBron.).  Teams need a special place to thrive… an environment so infused with raw, positive energy that all is possible.  We need leaders who exude high-voltage energy by being themselves.  We need authentic leadership.  We need Sunshine.