When do you work best?

I recently sat down with Dr. David Sallee, president of William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, to discuss his leadership philosophy and style.  I asked him how he renews himself—-in other words how does he, as the CEO of a major private college with endless challenges and demands, go about recharging his batteries?  He answered my question by simply saying:  “I work the way I work best.”  This means that he has given himself, and those he works with, permission to find the space and time when and where they work best.  He believes this enables maximum creativity, productivity and opportunities for self-renewal.  For himself, it means getting up at 4:30 a.m. and working until mid to late afternoon and then taking the time he needs to play racquetball or do something he enjoys to renew and restore himself.

For anyone seeking balance or to maximize our human potential, we need to find daily opportunities to renew ourselves.  If we don’t we will run ourselves down and become less productive, which will take its toll on our mental and physical health.  It is critical to recognize the conditions when and where we work the best and in that space we will truly thrive and renew ourselves.

Servant-Leadership

Over the past several months I’ve had the privilege of participating in a leadership program called the Doniphan Leadership Institute.  We’ve examined a variety of leadership philosophies and one I have particularly admired is servant-leadership.  Developed by Robert K. Greenleaf in the early 1960s and inspired by the novel Journey to the East, servant-leadership defines a leader’s fundamental purpose as insuring “that other people’s highest priority needs are being served.”

To authentically understand the needs of others, Greenleaf stated that listening is the primary tenet of the servant- leader.  To make his point, he quoted from the artist Albert Camus’ last published lecture titled Create Dangerously:  “Great ideas, it has been said, come into the world as gently as doves.  Perhaps, then if we listen attentively, we shall hear, amid the uproar of empires and nations, a faint flutter of wings, the gently stirring of life and hope.”  This attentive listening builds a keen awareness that enables a leader to take the necessary action to serve others.  Greenleaf believed that the motivation behind every servant-leader is a desire to heal others and by healing others, he meant to “make whole.”  The servant-leader should assume that everyone is in some way struggling, broken or in need of some kind of assistance.

Through patient listening, awareness and service we can improve the human condition and help others make the most out of their lives.

Balanced living pays.

I recently came across a Harvard Business Review article that justifies why striving for balance in our lives makes sense for the bottom-line in the workplace.  The article (“Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time,” Harvard Business Review, by Tony Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy, October 2007) focuses on the fact that because of increased demands and stress in our jobs we frequently respond by working longer hours–which leads to burn-out, higher medical costs and lower productivity.   The article makes the case for how energy-renewing rituals, instead of energy-depleting rituals, enable individuals to become more productive, successful and ultimately satisfied with their performance at work and in life in general.  Schwartz and McCarthy covered four broad areas where energy-renewal can occur:

1) The Body/Physical Energy (such as getting plenty of sleep and regular exercise);

2) The Emotions (such as by demonstrating appreciation of others);

3) The Mind (by not multitasking or by identifying a number one priority each day and tackling that item first);

4) The Human Spirit/Energy of Meaning and Purpose (by stopping and assessing what is most important in life).

To prove that energy-renewal pays off, the authors did a study of 106 employees at 12 Wachovia banks in southern New Jersey in 2006.  They stepped these employees through extensive training programs in each of the four areas above, “which focused on specific strategies for strengthening one of the four main dimensions of energy,” (Schwartz and McCarthy, 2007).  They compared the results of the group who participated in the trainings with a group of employees that did not go through the training.  The results were astounding with 20 percent increases in revenues within the first three months for the group participating in the energy-renewal program.

The biggest dividends from centering on renewing energy instead of always depleting it don’t come in savings for a corporation or entity but the personal satisfaction, fulfillment and happiness of its employees.

Intentional Purpose

This past week, a wise and dear friend shared a story with me from the Judaism tradition:

“When each of us is conceived, an angel is placed with us in our mother’s womb that teaches us the content of the Torah.  When the angel has completed her teachings, she touches us with her thumb just under our nose to signify what we were taught and this creates the small vertical indention we are born with.  Upon our birth, we forget what our angel taught and our entire life becomes a journey toward re-learning all that we were once taught.”

My friend explained that our angel teaches us our life’s purpose–only we forget.  Therefore, we must be intentional about re-discovering and living out what we were created to do.  Part of being intentional, he explained, is using positive thinking and creative visualization.  We must create and focus on a mental picture of ourselves achieving the best version of ourselves.

Re-learning what we were born to do is being intentional about our purpose.

Purposeful Seasons: Julie Agee

"What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit." ~ John Updike

My friend Julie Agee leads an extraordinary life.  She is a remarkably talented artist who recently celebrated her winning design for The Capital Grille’s Artist Series Wine Label–one of America’s finest, upscale dining establishments.  She is a fantastic example of how one person can successfully concentrate on a unique purpose at a distinctive season in life.

When I met Julie, her purpose was centered on faithfully serving as the executive director of the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association (MJJA).  A statewide organization, MJJA is dedicated to advocating for quality juvenile justice services for children who are neglected, abused or commit delinquent acts.  As executive director, she worked long hours immersing herself as a tireless activist for children.  We spent many days walking the halls of Missouri’s capitol to drive passage of a major piece of juvenile justice legislation.

When Julie retired from MJJA in 2006 after 30 years of service, she was able to embrace another one of her life

Julie Agee

purposes– art.  She is a diverse and gifted artist who works in an amazingly wide variety of mediums including pen and ink drawing, wax, paint, charcoal, collage, fiber, rocks, wood, welding, handmade soap, paper and the list goes on and on.  She recently had her famous holiday air brushed glass ornaments or “Julie’s Balls,” featured at the Saint Louis Art Museum, proceeds of which go back to the museum for the purchase of art.  Now, she can add designing a wine label for one of America’s most refined restaurants to her long list of accomplishments as an artist, of which a portion of the sales go to fight childhood hunger in America.

What especially inspires me about Julie is that she has had many rich successes concentrating on distinct purposes during different phases of her life.  She has made unique contributions through her wide-ranging talents at different points in time.  As someone with a wide variety of convictions and interests, there is a sense of contentment and almost relief in knowing that most of us will hopefully have the opportunity to focus on a new purpose when seasons change and opportunities rise.

 

Purposeful Leaders Weep

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama sheds a purposeful tear during 2008 campaign.

I’m passionate about leading from purpose.  A good purpose is a clear, compelling concise statement that tells someone what you do.  Hopefully, once you begin proclaiming your purpose, you will inspire others to want to learn more about you.  In Max DePree’s Leadership is an Art, he included an entire chapter about why leaders should cry.

This chapter really spoke to my notion of leading with purpose.  DePree talked about how critical it is that leaders are “intimate” with their work.  In other words, leaders must fully connect on an emotional level with their organizational and or personal purpose.  When they do this it frees them up to fully experience their emotions—and they might cry.

DePree wrote that there any number of things that we could weep about including “triumphs and tragedies.”  He offered a list of reasons for when crying might be appropriate:  “a lack of dignity; injustice; great news; tenderness; a word of thanks; separation; arrogance; leaders who watch bottom lines without watching behavior, etc.”

Being purposeful means being passionate and bold enough to express the emotions we feel when we’re fully engaged in our life’s work.

 

The Art of Strengths Based Leadership

In 1989, Max DePree published Leadership is an Art.  In this book, DePree writes: “God has given people a great diversity of gifts” (p. 63).  His word “gifts” is synonymous with natural, human talents or strengths.  I had not considered the divine nature of strengths until I really pondered this idea.

He later recommended that leaders “give others the gift of space, space in both the personal and corporate sense, space to be what one can be,” (p. 75).  This idea is foundational in accepting strengths based leadership.  Leaders must grant others the freedom to push the edges of their authenticity.  We should not focus on correcting weaknesses and instead we must focus on developing strengths.  This is the only true way we will ever fully realize our potential and enable the potential of others.

“The art of leadership lies in polishing and liberating and enabling those gifts,” (p. 10).  This is big job for a leader–it takes trust, courage and ultimately confidence that every person has worth, dignity and true strengths.  I believe this was  God’s intention for leaders.

Embracing the Strengths of Others

Embrace the strengths in others.

In a seminar I recently facilitated, which focused on developing and applying personal strengths, a participant shared a story about he and his son.  He said that his son has always been artistic, creative and free-spirited and that he has always pushed his son toward more business pursuits and the achievement of results.  After taking the Gallup ©Clifton StrengthsFinder® Assessment, he began to question whether his critical and unaccepting approach with his son was really the right one.  He began to focus on his son’s creative and artistic strengths and encourage those because that was who his son really was at the core of his being.  He decided to fully embrace and accept his son and his strengths instead of always trying to push him to be something he was not.

The results have been astounding.  Not only is his son now excelling in college but both father and son are happier and more fulfilled because the tension between them is gone.  Their relationship has also grown to a stronger and deeper level because of the focus on strengths.

Obama Get’s It!

Community Colleges Ready to Train After President's Speech
President Obama get’s it! Community colleges, and Metropolitan Community College, are a crucial part of how we give Americans opportunities and put people back to work. The American dream is still within reach–we’ve just got to give people the opportunity to gain the skills and education.

Creating a Team That Exceeds Its Potential

I wrote last about the power of awakening your strengths on a personal level to solidify your purpose.  This week, I’m in Scottsdale, Arizona attending the Think Tank (conference) for owners of cremation and funeral firms.  I presented here last year (2011) on the importance of identifying and developing strengths.  Everyone who attended took the online Gallup ©Clifton StrengthsFinder® Assessment and were encouraged to use this tool in their work.  This year, I’m back after conducting a case study on the successes of Jason and Crystal Jardine who manage Jardine Funeral Home and Cleveland Cremation.  They have embraced a strengths-based approach in leading their businesses.

Their results have been astounding—everyone at Jardine Funeral Home and Cleveland Cremation is now working beyond their potential based on implementing a strengths-based approach.  After the Jardines attended the 2011 Think Tank they went back to Cleveland and had everyone on their team take the StrengthsFinder® Assessment.  Next, everyone on their team re-wrote their job description based on their individual strengths.

Their strengths journey has enabled the Jardines to create a team where people are now working beyond their potential.  Here is a summary of their results:

• Everyone on staff has a renewed commitment to the mission and purpose of Jardine Funeral Home and Cleveland Cremation.
• The team now has a sense of relief because they no longer have to do the things they don’t enjoy because their job duties are aligned with their strengths—they are more engaged and satisfied with their jobs.
• The team has a higher morale and a greater sense of fulfillment from their work because of their focus on strengths.
• Customers and clients are now better served and more satisfied because of the staff’s renewed commitment to their roles.
• Employees are now innovating and owning their jobs more than ever before.
• The net result for the Jardines is that because they are maximizing the productivity and results of their staff, they are now free to focus their efforts on the strategic growth and expansion of their business.

The focus on strengths in an organization or business will net powerful results in terms of productivity, customer satisfaction, profits but most importantly an increase in the morale and overall happiness and fulfillment of employees.