The Secret Service, The Salahi's and Some Leadership Lessons
Posted at 6:19 AM on Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Thanksgiving weekend 2009 in the United States will be remembered for two news stories. Tiger Woods and his SUV, and the White House State Dinner Crashers, Tareq and Michaele Salahi. I'll leave Tiger for the tabloids, but I found leadership lessons in the "Partycrahser" story.
The Salahi's
Regardless of what you think of the Salahi's stunt, their motives, or the aftermath, I believe there is a lesson for us all in this story: they had a goal and they went for it.
Seriously now, how are you as committed to your goals as they were to meeting the President (or getting into the event, or getting the publicity - again their motives are not my point)?
Are you willing to stick your neck out, take risks and try things that haven't been successful in the past in order to reach your goals?
If you are, congratulations. I believe that for most of us, the answer is no.
And if the answer is no, why isn't your passion that high and your commitment that strong?
That is a question that is worth thinking about.
While I am not suggesting we break the law to reach our goals, I am suggesting that there is likely more you could be doing - I know there is more that I could be doing - to reach our goals faster.
Of course we can translate these questions into a leadership perspective as well, and ask ourselves if we are supporting people's passion and commitment as much as we could.
These are some of the things the Salahi story story got me thinking about.
The Secret Service
These events also got me thinking about the Secret Service, and an important leadership lesson that I find in their actions/inactions. Without going into the details, details that we may never know anyway, clearly the Secret Service had/has a process problem. Perhaps thay have a performance management issue with specific employees, but from what I have read, they also have a process improvement opportunity (the press calls it a breech - we call it a process problem).
Likely the flaws or improvement opportunities in your organization's processes won't be as drastic or become as public as these have, but it reminds us that even our most important and perhaps most used work processes may need improvement.
The securty process for State Dinners will likely be improved in the coming weeks. But would they have been if not for the Salahi's?
I think not.
Consider this a cautionary tale of the dangers of the comfort zone and the need for us as leaders to be proactive. Like the Secret Service, your most critical processes won't be reviewed until you have a problem, or you as a leader take the iniative to have a review, or a process improvement team look for opportunities.
In both parts of the story, the choice is yours - choose to be committed and choose to be proactive.
This time of the year, it is the most asked question - "What are your New Year's Resolutions?"
Many people make them.
Few people sustain them.
In fact, according to research by Marti Hope Gonzales, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota cited in the New York Times this morning about 80 percent of people who make resolutions on Jan. 1 will stop making progress by Valentine’s Day.
There are a variety of factors that lead to people not being successful, but the biggest two come from the word resolution itself.
First, from the definition itself. Dictionary.com gives many definitions of the word, the the two most relevant being:
2. a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something. 3. the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.
Notice that both of these are really about a decision. Decisions are important, but not nearly as important as the actions that back them up. The reason so many people set resolutions is that they are easy to set. It is (relatively) easy to decide to do something. But to make your resolution last, you must do more than decide, you must do.
Second, from the spelling of the word. Resolution conveniently begins with the letters "re". Most of us think about the letters "re" when by themselves as something we use in a letter, memo or email to describe the subject - or why we are writing. It is the why that is missing from most resolutions. You will reach more of your resolutions, goals or objectives when the reason why you want to achieve it is clearly placed in your mind and is sufficiently strong and compelling to keep you acting and moving in the direction of that goal or resolution.
We cannot underestimate the power of "why" when setting and moving towards the achievement of our resolutions or goals.
If you are reading this as you are setting your resolutions your action steps should be clear. Don't stop with the decision, get to work. And create a why - a compelling reason that is big enough and powerful enough to keep you on your new habit path.
These are ideas that I explore in great depth and provide a variety of tools and techniques for in our brand new Start Today - Make Your Next 12 Months Your Best 12 Months package. If you are serious about being in the 20% who are taking action on and succeeding in reaching or maintaining your resolutions beyond Valentine's Day, you owe it to yourself - and your why - to check out this package.
Goal setting is one thing we all recognize is important, both personally and professionally (even though the vast majority of people don't set any). Setting goals is one thing, achieving them is something else. If goal setting is the first step in success, persistence is a very close second.
Too many people set a goal and feel like the hard work is done. For all of the value of the Law of Attraction, the part that is often overlooked is the Law of Action. Yes, we set the goal and begin to attract it, but attraction comes much faster by taking action.
Persistent, regular, consistent action.
Here is your recipe for goal achievement.
Review your goal(s).
Take at least one step towards achieving them each day.
Like the stonemason who carves away at the rock with his hammer and chisel, one blow, one chip at a time.
Like the Salesman who makes one more sales call each day.
Like the athlete who practices everyday.
If you want to reach your goals, you must take action towards them. Don't just ponder and think about hitting a home run when you actually go to bat; go to bat. When you keep swinging you will hit some home rums, but more importantly you will hit singles and doubles.
You can achieve many goals with daily singles and doubles.
If you want to achieve your goals, be persistent. Take actions everyday that will lead towards the achievement of your goals.
If you can accelerate the effort to take many steps each day, your goals will come faster. But if you take consistent, persistent action in the direction of your goals, you will achieve more than you ever imagined to be possible.
This is my first (of what I hope will be many) video blog posts. The production value and my "performance" will get better (I promise!). This is of course what being on a path of learning is about - we don't need to wait until things are perfect to get started.
Aside from that, I think the message of this video is important for all of us, and yes, I DO love my watch.
If you are intrigued by the Now Watch you can check it out here.
I've been a bit restless for the past couple of weeks. Oh, I've been busy, and I've met most (all, I hope) of my commitments. But something hasn't quite been right. I could blame it on the cold that I had, or the lingering winter, but neither of these would be accurate, nor would blaming be very productive anyway.
A brief conversation with my sister-in-law Kara yesterday put it perfectly. She sad, "I've just been in maintenance for the past couple of weeks." That is exactly where I have been - maintenance. I'm getting the things done that have to get done - but not much extra is happening.
It is like maintaining a house. If we are in maintenance mode things don't fall into disrepair, but you are doing any remodelling or landscaping either. Maintenance requires some energy, but seldom creates any new energy. And that is where I have been.
As I think about it, I think this is where many people spend their whole lives. They don't set any goals, they don't stretch themselves. They simply stay in maintenance mode. A fifty year old house that has been maintained will have out dated bathrooms, paint and appliances - it may be functional, but it won't be highly attractive.
I don't know about you, but I want to be attractive. I want to be vibrant, alive and full of energy. Perhaps it it ok to be in a maintenance mode for a bit (I know that the extra sleep I've gotten to allow my body to recover from the cold was smart and healing). Here is what I am doing to move past maintenance. I believe these same things can help you or your team/organization do the same thing.
1. Review my goals. Whenever I review my goals it brings me renewed purpose and energy. When was the last time you or your team reviewed your goals?
2. Review the benefits my goals will bring me. Reviewing our goals is great - reminding ourselves of why they are so important is even more powerful. Don't just pull out your goals. Take time to reflect on why they matter. Your energy and motivation will be replenished, guaranteed. Do you (and everyone on your team) know why your goals matter?
3. Take action. My energy today is higher than it has been in days. Having a plan and taking action fuels that energy. What is your action plan for today or this week?
4. Remove distractions. For me recently that includes a home office that is too messy. Last week before traveling I began to clean it up and today that continues. My other distraction? college basketball. I love college basketball and this time of year is the best time to be a fan. I can make some time for it without allowing it to suck all of my time attention. What are your current distractions du jour?
These four steps are helping me get past maintenance and on to achieving my bigger and more exciting goals for this year. If you find yourself in maintenance mode, get those tasks done and get on to building your future!
This is the third post in a continuing series designed to help you create a great 2008 - using questions to reflect on last year, and project into the future. All of the questions and additional information can be found in this tool, available for you to download now.
The third question is:
How will I best use my skills?
My answer to this one is simple. I will use my skills to serve others.
I believe this approach I allows me to not only serve others, but reach my personal and business goals, and ultimately make the world a better place.
I plan to do this by writing, speaking, listening, consulting, and training. I plan to do this by caring about the needs of others.
So, how will you best use your skills, as an individual, as a team member, as a leader (insert any other role in your life here)?
As with all of these questions, I welcome your comments and even your answers.
What Are Your Five Most Important Goals For This Year?
Posted at 7:01 AM on Friday, January 04, 2008
This is the second post in a continuing series designed to help you create a great 2008 - using questions to reflect on last year, and project into the future. All of the questions and additional information can be found in this tool, available for you to download now.
The second question is:
What are my five most important goals for this year?
While I believe it is valuable to share your most important goals with one or a few people (specifically people who will be supportive of you reaching those goals), I don't know that I want to share ALL of my most important goals with the entire world in this forum. Besides our family goal setting for the year isn't finished (we will work on that more this evening), so I couldn't present a completely prioritized list anyway.
Having said all that, I am prepared to share some of my goals here. Here are some of them:
- I will successfully complete the Indianapolis Mini Marathon in May. - I will return to my goal weight of 178 (I wasn't very diligent in this area during the holidays). - I will complete my next book. - I will be a much more active blogger. - I will learn more and be more active as a social networker.
After reading this list, I encourage you to read my last post. When you compare the lists from these two posts you will notice similarities. I hope that when you have answered these two questions you will find similarities as well. Having goals that you are genuinely excited about improves your chances for success significantly.
Note too that I have already taken daily steps towards all of these goals - and if you want to reach a goal, you need to be actively taking steps towards them.
1. I have been training for the Mini (which addresses the first two goals) 2. I have been outlining the new book over the past several weeks - and spend mental time on it last night while driving. 3. This very series of posts is a part of my strategy to be a more active blogger. 4. I've taken the plunge and joined Facebook. I'd love for you request friend ship with me if you are a member, or you could become a member, and know you'll have one friend right away!
If you haven't started your goal setting for the New Year, now is a great time. I encourage you to do all of the questions in this process as a part of that process. If you already have the goals set, great - doing the reflective questions and the rest of the projective questions will accelerate you towards success.
This is the first post in a continuing series designed to help you create a great 2008 - using questions to reflect on last year, and project into the future. All of the questions and additional information can be found in this tool, available for you to download now.
Here then is the first of the 13 projection questions . . .
What excites me about the New Year?
The list of things that excite me about 2008 is a long one. Here are some key ones:
- I am excited by the opportunity to travel overseas with my family. - I am excited about writing my next book. - I am excited to learn more about social networks, and build connections with more people. - I am excited to complete some major projects with my wife. - I am excited to impact the lives of many people and organizations through our consulting training and speaking services. - I am excited to help people on their paths towards becoming remarkable leaders. - I am excited about watching my kids grow up.
Thinking about the things that excite us is a great place to start in goal and resolution setting. While we'll talk more about that tomorrow, I encourage you to start getting excited, by thinking about what excites you!
The mass of 29,211 people, to be exact. 29,211 people completed the Indianapolis 500 Festival Mini Marathon last Saturday. For all of them whether than wheelchaired, ran or walked the 13.1 mile course, they reached a goal that they had worked on for some period of time.
This whole crowd of goal achievers inspired me, but one person more than the rest. You see her picture here - my wife Lori reached her goal by completing. It wasn't her goal to finish in a certain time, but to finish. That goal in itself is a noble one (after all, how many people do you know that have completed a half marathon?)
I find at least two important lessons for all of us in this event.
1. Worthy goals take time and preparation. the 35,000 entries for this race were all taken by last November. So you know that people didn't just wake up a week before and decide to run this race. It took preparation, planning, and practice. So it is with any goal worth achieving.
2. Keep site of what you achieve. The goals of the 29,210 other people might have been different than Lori's and I'm sure some didn't reach their time goal, or didn't finish ahead of a friend they hoped to beat, but they all finished and achieved something significant.
As we set goals we should always keep in mind that what we gain or learn during the course of achieving them, even if we don't achieve exactly or everything we set out to achieve, may be as valuable as the goal itself.
I congratulate all of those who completed their goal. I encourage you to think about these lessons of goal setting.
And if you want to run with Lori and me next year, let me know. (you can sign up here).
Earlier this week there was a tragedy in Blacksburg, VA that all of us have heard about, read about, talked about and thought about. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved in this horrible situation. Lives were lost, families torn apart and people have experienced things that will be with them for the rest of their lives. All of this is true.
But unless you are a university official, law enforcement officer or are personally involved in this event, I urge you to stop.
Stop watching. Stop listening. Stop reading. and stop thinking about the event.
I urge you to do this not because I am cold or unfeeling. In fact, my motive is quite the opposite.
The more you watch it, the more you will be demotivated by it, the more it will cloud your vision of what is good about the world, the more it will make you wonder about "all those crazy people out there", and the less it will allow you to trust humanity.
Plus, think about what you could have done with all of the time you've been glued to CNN, reading the news stories or talking about it with friends.
You could have worked on a goal, read a book, or hugged a child (build your own list here).
Are there great storites that are starting to be told? Stories of heroism and bravery? I'm sure there are, but I haven't heard them, because once I learned the basics of the story, I have chosen not to watch for all the reasons why I've urged you to stop.
Today is Valentine's Day (Happy Valentine's Day to you).
Here are a couple of questions for you as you celebrate ...
- How much passion are you bringing to your work each day? - If it isn't as much as you wish, ask yourself "why not?"
It is also the 45th day of the year - just more than 12% of the year is complete.
And as you celebrate Day 45 ask yourself . . .
- Am I happy with my progress towards my goals after the first 45 days of the year? - Am I 12% of the way to them? - Either way, what can I do this week to move forward more quickly?
Unleashing Your Remarkable Potential is Kevin Eikenberry’s guide to helping you have amazing success while developing your professional and personal potential.
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Welcome! This was the home of my blog from March 2004 – November 2009. For my more recent writing to help you become more effective and successful, join me at our new blog – Leadership & Learning with Kevin Eikenberry
Unleashing Your Remarkable Potential is Kevin Eikenberry’s guide to helping you have amazing success while developing your professional and personal potential.
Welcome! This was the home of my blog from March 2004 – November 2009. For my more recent writing to help you become more effective and successful, join me at our new blog – 
