Jeremy Lin -- the "connector" -- celebrates with teammates and fans

Two of the biggest stories in the sports world in recent weeks have been the emergence of Jeremy Lin and the passing of Gary Carter.  Though unrelated, these two events have re-emphasized for me the value of “connectors” –  those people (in both sports and all organizations) who somehow “connect” the people and change the game (and the atmosphere) in  important ways.

“Lin-sanity”

Jeremy Lin, the New York Knicks’ new point guard, has gone from an unknown reserve on a faltering team to literally a worldwide sensation in less than two weeks.  When the season began on Christmas Day, Lin was sleeping on his brother’s couch.  By Valentine’s Day, Lin – an undrafted free agent from Harvard, who had recently been cut by two teams and was hoping for a spot on a minor league roster when signed by the desperate Knicks – was serving as an inspirational role model for children around the world (he is one of the few NBA players of Taiwanese descent).

How did this happen? As a point guard, Lin’s job is to get the ball to his teammates in places and at times when they have the best chance of making plays and scoring.  Simply put, he “connects” his teammates – a skill that is vital for successful teams in sports as well as in business.  Add in his can-do spirit, the energy he brings onto the court, and his humility, and you have something very special in the works.  End result:  The Knicks have gone from an 8-15 record and sports writers openly betting on when the coach would be fired to a team focused on the playoffs (with some giddily speculating whether a championship run might even be possible for them).

“The Kid”

Gary Carter's ability to connect teammates led to a dramatic World Series victory in 1986

While post-steroid era baseball may not be “America’s Past-Time” in quite the same way it used to be, there’s no doubt that Gary Carter was an All-American sports hero.  A Hall of Fame, power-hitting catcher for 19 seasons, Carter’s position enabled him to serve as a “field general” behind the plate, and his upbeat personality and strong will to win enabled him to be a leader off the field.

In the many eulogies offered on his passing last week at the age of 57 from brain cancer, there was constant reference to the role Carter played as the “last piece of the puzzle” (literally, a “connector”) when he came to the New York Mets in 1985 – leading them to a World Series championship a year later. He was recognized as the glue that held a very talented but rowdy bunch together, from guiding a young pitching staff through rough spots with patience and care, to – determined not to make the final out – getting the hit that started the Mets’ miraculous game-winning rally in a contest known simply in New York sports lore as “Game Six.”  In short, he “connected” his teammates and helped the whole become so much more than the sum of the parts.

 Business: Connectors and Dis-Connectors

It strikes me that in thriving organizations of any size or scope (from 6-person departments to major divisions of global corporations), there is often a person (or persons) who serve as connectors – who through their skills, presence, and personality serve to bring the group together and help everyone “raise their game.”  Two examples (one positive, one negative):

• Dysfunction — I once interviewed with the HR department of a division of a Fortune-500 company where – strikingly – there seemed to be absolutely no connection (business, emotional, or otherwise) between any member of the HR team … so much so that the word “team” could scarcely be used.  This extended to the HR VP – an otherwise affable and bright person who was proud to share that he had absolutely no idea what anyone on his team was doing at any point in time (no joke!).  Boy, did that team need a “connector”!
• Connection — I currently work with a colleague who is absolutely, intuitively brilliant in her ability to bring people together.  With very little fanfare and no one really noticing until after the fact, she regularly brings teammates into her projects in ways in which they can add the most value, expand their contacts, serve the client’s best interests, and play to their strengths – win/win scenarios, to say the least.  (In basketball parlance, she gets people the ball in positions where they can score).  She is a true “connector,” and the team – and the organization — is truly strengthened for it.

Implications

In hiring for, coaching, and developing teams at all levels of our organizations, it seems to me that “connectors” are vital for success.  What are your thoughts?

Related articles

• Gresh & Zo: Lin-sanity! Jeremy Lin Has Taken the NBA by Storm (boston.cbslocal.com)
• Jeremy Lin Gets Back on Linning Track (everyjoe.com)

On Sunday evening, the Giants and Patriots treated more than 110 million fans to a classic Super Bowl game, long on intensity and down-to-the-last second drama.  Innumerable sports writers and football experts have analyzed the many key moments in the game.  I wanted to share today four lessons that stem from the weeks, months, and years leading up to the game – focusing principally on Giants Head Coach, Tom Coughlin, and quarterback, Eli Manning.

Coaching and Leadership Lessons

• Maintain your principles, adapt your tactics – Throughout his long college and NFL coaching career, Tom Coughlin has been known as an “old school” disciplinarian.  When his teams have won, this has been seen as a virtue; when losing, a vice.  Early in his tenure with the Giants, Coughlin’s approach was feared to be too intense and inflexible to reach today’s players.  He re-thought his approach during that off-season and started the next year more flexible, while still retaining his trademark intensity and focus.  A few years later, he was a Super Bowl winning head coach for the first time (2008) … and now again.
• Age stereotypes are just that – stereotypes – At age 65, Coughlin became the oldest Super Bowl winning coach.  Separated from most players on his roster by a full two generations, it would be easy to assume that he would struggle connecting with “Gen Y” or “Millenial” generation stars.  Yet, in post-game interviews, player after player cited Coughlin’s heart-felt pre-game speech about his love for his players as a key motivator for them, and emblematic of how he has interacted with them throughout the year. 
• Diamonds in the rough sometimes turn out to be … diamonds – Throughout his career, quarterback Eli Manning has been derided in the New York and national media as falling far short of the other-worldly talents of his 4-time MVP older brother, Peyton.  A few weeks before leading his team on its magical Super Bowl run in 2007, Eli was even characterized as “skittish” by his own general manager (a damning indictment for a football player, particularly a quarterback who serves as the metaphorical “field general”).  Earlier this season, he was the object of scorn for answering “yes” when asked if he considered himself an “elite” quarterback.  Two Super Bowl MVP awards later, the Giants are surely well-pleased that they saw and stuck with Eli’s promise despite his early stumbles.
• Resolve and focus trumps personality – Despite being well-spoken and thoughtful, Eli’s “aw, shucks” manner and habit of deferring credit to his teammates has been criticized as not demonstrating necessary leadership traits.  Humility belies a steely resolve and intense focus on the job at hand, though.  When asked what Eli said in the huddle on the game-winning drive, a teammate replied, “Nothing.  We knew what we needed to do.  He just let us do our jobs.” He did his job expertly, not flinching under the Patriot’s onslaught.  Still waters run deep, indeed.

Sidenote: Interestingly, many of the same principles can be seen at work in the story of Patriot’s tandem of Head Coach, Bill Belichick, and quarterback, Tom Brady.  Example: Belichick – long known as a brilliant defensive mind, rebounded from a failing first stint as a head coach with the Browns, reinventing himself as he began a 12-year run of nearly unprecedented of success with the Patriots (i.e., maintaining principles, adapting tactics).  Brady, now regarded as a sure-bet first-ballot hall-of-famer, began his career as an unheralded (if not openly derided) 6^th-round draft pick (inconceivably low for someone headed for a brilliant career) – thus, the diamond in the rough principle at work, again.

Lessons

What other leadership and coaching lessons do you draw from the Super Bowl or other athletic events that are relevant to leading organizations?

Related articles

• Eli Manning, Tom Coughlin Punch Their Tickets to Canton with Second Super Win (bleacherreport.com)
• Super Bowl XLVI and the Legacies of Manning, Brady, Belichick, and Coughlin (bleacherreport.com)
• Super Bowl XLVI: 5 Things We Learned from the Super Bowl (bleacherreport.com)
• Giants’ Coughlin not ready to quit coaching (espn.go.com)

In recent years, there has been widespread interest in books recommending “fierce” or “difficult” conversations. While these best-sellers offer many excellent communication tips, I worry that some of their most enthusiastic adherents can seem more eager for the “fierce” (i.e., “confrontational”) part of the concept than the “conversation” (i.e., mutual, respectful exchange of ideas) part.  As a brief anecdote involving two former colleagues illustrates,  “fierce” and “constructive” aren’t necessarily the same thing.

A Tale of Two Colleagues

“Colleague A” is fiercely bright, passionate about a wide range of subjects, and eager to engage in stimulating debate to help focus and fine-tune his ideas and theories.  He feels morally compelled to question approaches to problems until rigorous, high-quality answers and results are achieved – all to the good. Not surprisingly, he is a strong proponent of “fierce” conversations.  Also not surprisingly, this can overwhelm those who don’t share exactly his same sensibilities (i.e., almost everyone else).  He is known to open one-on-one meetings with the declaration, “We need to have a fierce conversation,” immediately putting the other party on the defensive.

When he oversaw a creative department for a short while, team members respected some of the individual results he helped them achieve – but rued the fact that his “fierce” approach included department meetings that felt like daily “public interrogations.”  On the whole, whatever technical advances the department made under his leadership were, unfortunately, more than balanced out by heavy blows inflicted on individual and group morale and professional self-esteem.

“Colleague B” is equally bright, and shares the same thirst for excellence and passion for candid conversations as Colleague A.  “It’s always about the work,” she fond of saying.  The key difference is, she pursues these conversations while always remaining conscious of the emotional reaction of listeners and the state of her working relationship with them.  Even while speaking directly, she communicates a caring for the individual and a concern for maintaining the relationship.  The result is excellent work equal to that of Colleague A – but without the collateral damage unchecked “fierceness” (in the traditional definition) is want to bring.  This has two important effects:

1. The people she interacts with feel respected rather than over-powered
2. The impact of the work is likely to be much longer lasting, in both the people and organizations involved.

(I suspect that the above is much more aligned with the intent of the “fierce”/”difficult” authors’ intentions as opposed to Colleague A’s interpretation).

As baseball managers and umpires have proved for a hundred years, "fierce" discussion doesn't equal "productive"

A Different Approach: Constructive Conversations

There is no doubt that having candid, direct dialogue with peers and direct reports is an important part of being an effective co-worker and manager. At the same time, a necessary “pre-requisite” to candor is establishing a credible, trust-based relationship with those you are speaking with, day by day by day. Conversation partners need to see you as someone who:

• has their best interests at heart (i.e., is “on their side”)
• has helpful perspectives to share (i.e., has relevant expertise/knowledge)
• shares your perspectives in a respectful way (i.e., can disagree without being disagreeable)
• is looking to support and encourage, not criticize and penalize

Interacting in this way – in conversations small and large, formal and informal — day in and day out, builds credibility, which serves as the platform for “constructive conversations.”  By doing so, conditions will have been set for conversations that can address important issues without being sabotaged by concerns about motives, hidden agendas, harmful intentions, etc. By establishing this base, candid conversations become a healthy, constructive mix of collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and support.  They might not generate the adrenaline rush of a “fierce” conversation … but I’ll take candid and constructive over difficult and divisive every time!

Related articles

• Giving and Receiving Feedback (timesunion.com)
• Rypple’s Nick Stein, on how to deliver better feedback (eblingroup.com)

"The Office's" Michael Scott was a talented sales person but a comically awful manager, to his employee's eternal dismay. Are similar mis-matches of skills and responsibilities causing tension and frustration in your organization?

In the age of the Great Recession, it is common for managers and employees to be asked to “do more with less.”  When this is pushed to the extreme – i.e., employees  forced to run beyond capacity for too long with insufficient relief —  it is easy to predict the results: burned out managers, demoralized employees, declining product quality, disenchanted customers, and vanishing profits.

Situations like the above are fairly easy to discern, if difficult to correct. What about a related circumstance, though – where employees aren’t asked to do too many things, but the wrong things?  I encountered such a situation this past week.

The Discouraged Sales Manager

A good friend is a sales manager with responsibility for a team of field sales representatives.  Over the past yearhe has become increasingly frustrated with his team —  not due to poor sales results (they’re holding their own, despite a tough sales climate), but rather, due to the team’s failure to think “strategically.”  Example: When he asked them to plan next quarter’s sales meeting, they set about doing so quite efficiently – but without ever contemplating the goal or broader purpose of the meeting – resulting in considerable re-work being needed by the manager.

A Question of Skills, Strengths, and Attributes

As he related this story, I reflected on similar frustrations he has expressed in the past.  It struck me that the stories all had a common theme – that is, he was looking for “strategy” (“what do we need to accomplish in the meeting”)  from them, but he was consistently getting “tactics” (“Step 1 – book the hotel. Check. Step 2 – identify a guest speaker. Check.”).  Nothing that was done was incorrect or inappropriate – it just wasn’t what he was really looking for.

While this problem could be ascribed to poor communication, the core issue felt more elemental.  It seemed to me to be a mis-alignment of skills and expectations.  To generalize:

• Field sales reps are skilled in executing plans and using tactics (i.e., making cold calls to prospects, checking on customers, etc.) created by others  – that’s how they were “wired” and that’s what they are very good at.
• The sales manager was asking them to step back and think strategically about why they were approaching the clients they were approaching, and whether other potential markets might be fertile ground for them – but that wasn’t what they were trained for, it wasn’t how they were wired to think, and it wasn’t what they were good at.  It was, in fact, a different job than the one they were hired for.

Why the Disconnect?

In reality, my friend is actually the leader of the entire division – serving as de facto “sales manager” in addition to his many other responsibilities due to budget limitations.  Because he was spread too thin, he was trying to help the sales reps to serve as their own sales managers, in essence – so that he would be freed up to spend more time with his other areas of responsibility.  But, it wasn’t working – so he was discouraged, and the sales reps were confused.

I suggested to him that the core problem might be he was asking them to serve in a role that didn’t play to their natural strengths, abilities or inclinations. No rep was under-performing in their actual job – just in the job he wished they might do.  He agreed.  I can’t tell you that this made him feel any less discouraged – but at least he felt he understood the situation better and could adjust his expectations accordingly.

Question to Consider

If your managers are disappointed in an individual or team’s performance, it might be worth examining whether what they’re being asked to do aligns with their skills, abilities, and inclinations.  If the answer is “no,”  any number of solutions may be possible.  By defining the problem, though, you’re likely more than half way to solving it.

Good luck – and keep heart!

Related articles

• Tips for Hiring Your First Sales Manager, Part 2 (bjconquest.com)
• The boss is in town! (michaelsrickert.wordpress.com)
• Coaching Sales Management (frontofficebox.com)

The start of the new year is traditionally a time for fresh starts, new perspectives, and transitions. I was reminded of this recently when two close friends – both long-time, high-performing senior operating executives in their firms – confided their intentions to leave their positions this year.

Both had similar reasons – in essence, they were mis-aligned with their companies’ visions and values, and they couldn’t (or didn’t want to) fight the battles there any longer.  Their situations led me to wonder, “How do you know when it’s time to say good-bye?”

Signs and Signals

When one – or certainly, a few – of the following are true, it may be time to move on to greener pastures:

• Lack of resources – when your division is consistently the profit-driver of the company, and just as consistently is under-resourced when capital expenses and operating budgets are decided on
• Lack of trust – when you’ve delivered results year after year and ownership still doesn’t trust you with full profit-and-loss information … for your own division
• Lack of confidence – when you’ve hoped against hope every year that the company leader grows in skill and wisdom, and they haven’t done so to any appreciable degree
• Lack of strategy – when you keep trying to discern a consistent strategy or direction based on executive decisions, but there’s no clear pattern or way forward
• Lack of shared values – when you believe leadership means well, but when push comes to shove, they don’t treat employees the way you would treat employees
• Lack of peer support – when you’re ostensibly part of a “team” of “peers” each with their own very different agendas, and the only commonality seems to be that you sit in the same meetings together
• Lack of hope – when you’ve tried to protect your team from the follies and foibles of management, but just don’t have the stamina to do so any more; when you’ve tried to look on the bright side hoping things will change, but can no longer say with conviction that you see sunshine over the clouds;  when you (like Sisyphus) have always eagerly pushed the boulder up the hill knowing that it’s likely to fall back down again – but you just don’t have the heart to do so any more.

One might ask how intelligent, talented individuals – not lacking in career options – would put up with one, much less several, of the situations above … for years … before coming to conclusion that it was time to move on? The truth, I believe, is that successful people are often positive-thinking, optimistic people – confident (sometimes overly so) in their ability to overcome obstacles, to “change the world” or at least “fight city hall,” as it were, and come out on the other side.

Sometimes, though, we need to recognize that we’ve fought the good fight; we’ve done our best to improve the situation, but it has improved as much as it’s going to improve, and it’s time for us to sow seeds of hope and helpfulness in different and more fertile ground.

How do you know for sure?  One final sign: When you confide your intentions to a trusted friend, and they smile kindly but knowingly and say, “So … what took you so long? I’ve been waiting to hear you say that for years!”  Then, you know for sure.

The turning of the calendar page to a new year is traditionally a time for taking stock, considering the future, and resolving to pursue anew our hopes, plans, and dreams.  In this spirit, I wanted to share two brief anecdotes about looking forward with a hope-filled spirit.

“Rapidly Improving”

A number of years ago, I had the good fortune of working with an attorney representing our office in Puerto Rico who was undoubtedly one of the most “glass half full” thinkers I have ever met.  When exchanging pleasantries upon meeting (in person or by phone), Tristan would invariably respond to the question, “How are you? or “How’s it going?” with “Very well, thank you – and rapidly improving! How are you?”

“… And rapidly improving.” Fifteen years later, I can still see, hear, and feel the smile on his face and in his voice when he would say this. I’ve always thought it quite remarkable.  Mr. Reyes was a labor attorney, a serious and accomplished man who wrestled with difficult and often unpleasant risks, concerns, and dilemmas every day.  Yet, in his speech and in his manner, he conveyed a belief that all good things were on the horizon – and if troubles did come his way, he was confident that he would work through them and come out the other side stronger for the struggle.  All of that packed into one little phrase and a smile (along with the subtly re-affirming implication that part of the ‘rapidly improving’ part came from getting to interact with you that day).

May the new year bring us many upbeat encounters with remarkable people such as Tristan – along with the ability to convey such positive beliefs to all who come into contact with us.

“Let’s Go Exploring”

As a big fan of the daily comics, it was with sadness that I read Bill Watterson’s last “Calvin and Hobbes” strip on January 1, 1996.  (For those unfamiliar with the comic strip, it followed the adventures – real and imagined – of 6-year boy-wonder Calvin and his confidante and partner-in-crime, the stuffed toy tiger, Hobbes).  Mr. Watterson honored the strip’s best purposes with a final entry of great whimsy, innocence, hope, and childlike expectation that I’ve always felt was a wonderful and fitting image and message for the new year.  Returning Calvin and Hobbes to one of their favorite settings, a childhood paradise of freshly-driven snow and endless possibilities, here’s what he drew:

(CLICK HERE for a larger, clearer version of the strip)

May we all “go exploring” with hope, heart, and eagerness and experience good and great adventures and joys this year.  Happy New Year to all!

Related articles

• In Praise of Small Things — Small Winter Poems (christopher anthony leibow)
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Linus Speaks Up

Towards the end of the program, ever-beleaguered Charlie Brown — despairing over the commercialization of Christmas — asks, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”  His wise friend, Linus, steps forward calmly and confidently and gives an answer for the ages (click here):

It strikes me that Linus’ answer, like so many organizational truths, was known to all — but unspoken but by a few.  It took someone willing to ask the question … and someone willing to say what everyone was thinking … for the answer to come forth.

Missing the “Ah-Ha” Moment

A company I worked for used to conduct an employee survey every year about this time.  For several years, they received consistent answers to a number of questions surrounding “What can we do to improve the company?” Responses were invariably to the effect of, “Communication between managers and employees is very poor,” “The company doesn’t seem to have a clear direction,” “I personally like my manager, but people don’t have a lot of confidence in the management team in general,” and the like.

Unfortunately, rather than trying to solve the communication and confidence issues that the employees identified, the management team — hurt and perplexed by the perennially negative results — decided to discontinue the survey.  (Yes — a heavy sigh, indeed.  They did have a penchant for learning the wrong lesson, I‘m afraid).

A Hopeful Ending

The story above — albeit all too common, I’m afraid — isn’t the only possible conclusion to these issues, of course.  To end where we began, the closing scene of A Charlie Brown Christmas offers a dose of hope that groups that wish to learn from evident truths can do so.  After Linus’ heartfelt proclamation, the Peanuts gang has a chance to reflect of what he’s said and, one by one, they reconsider their views on a symbolically important issue — the beauty of Charlie Brown’s scraggly but noble tree.  In the end, the tree is given tender loving care and it “grows” into a true thing of beauty as the group gathers around it for a heartwarming hymn.

Once spoken out loud, Linus’ wisdom was taken to heart and behaviors changed. Here’s wishing that each of us can help our leadership teams to seek out, embrace, and act on the evident truths in our organizations in the coming year.  Happy New Year to all!

Related articles

• “Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!” (donfharris.com)
• Movie Quote Christmas Day – A Charlie Brown Christmas (steadilyskippingstones.wordpress.com)

In my faith tradition and others, the holiday season is a time of great anticipation and preparation; a time of hope and of hopes fulfilled; a time of gifts, and a time of miracles.  These are my wishes for each of us …

… that we may prepare diligently for the tasks that are before us, and that we might look forward with great eagerness and anticipation to new adventures large and small in the new year

… that we never lose heart, always keeping hope and wonder alive, and that our fondest wishes might come to fulfillment in ways we could never expect

… that we share our gifts freely with those around us; and that we might recognize, encourage, and cherish the gifts others share with us

… that we experience a world of miracles that transform us into our better selves, always.

These are my hopes and wishes for us – both professionally and personally – this holiday season.  May peace and contentment be yours.

Related articles

• Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Clause
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George Costanza was the world's worst employee by almost every measure -- but even he deserved courtesy when interviewing for a new position

Having been on both sides of the interviewing desk many times over the years, I can appreciate the stress the recruiting process creates for both parties – the over-worked-and-under-appreciated recruiter  and the on-pins-and-needles-am-I-going-to-get-this-job candidate.  I’m moved today, though, to advocate for the candidate’s interests in one regard: common courtesy.

Dilemma #1: Volume, volume, volume

It has long been true that on-line job postings have made it too easy for applicants to click a button and bury a recruiter in a blizzard of resumes – many of which might not be even vaguely qualified.   But it is also true that virtually every job board allows the recruiter to set up an automatic reply to acknowledge resumes received.

Resolution: By setting up an auto reply,  the candidate will know his resume didn’t disappear into the black void of cyberspace without even getting to the employer.

Dilemma #2:  “But they didn’t even bother to write a cover letter”

True story: I posted an opening recently for a professional sales position that stated “cover letter required.” Exactly two out of 84 applicants submitted cover letters.

Resolution: I’m with the recruiters on this one.  In a perfect world, I’d love to see recruiters getting back to candidates with a “thanks-but-no-thanks” e-mail when their applications are reviewed and passed over.  I reality, though, if job seekers don’t even follow clear instructions, I can’t argue that they warrant further courtesy after the initial “we’ve received your resume” system-generated e-mail.

Dilemma #3:” I hate making the ‘we enjoyed getting to know you – but we’re moving on with other candidates’ call”

I don’t know anyone who relishes sharing bad news.  Nevertheless, I find it embarrassing as an HR professional when a recruiter can’t muster the courtesy to e-mail – much less call – a candidate who’s often taken the day off from their current job to interview with your company.  This is made even worse if you’ve put them through a series of grueling interviews.  I know that everyone’s busy … but I can’t find any excuse for failing to get back to someone who’s been in your office.

Resolution: Do the right thing.  If they’ve interviewed with you, they deserve  an e-mail letting them know their status.  Better: a phone call.

Dilemma #4: Making an offer … or not

There was a famous “Seinfeld” episode where George Costanza quit his job on the basis of what he thought was a job offer from a competitor.  The executive said to him, “You do know, of course …” after making what sounded like an implied job offer, and never quite finished the sentence.  George later found out that the rest of the sentence was, “…  our entire senior management team is under indictment and we’re barred from hiring anyone.”

I actually had something similar happen to me several years ago.  After being flown in for a series of “final interviews,” I seemed to “hit it off” well with the CEO, who was a very affable fellow.  As we shook hands and parted, he said to me, “If you liked us as much as we liked you …” He never finished the sentence – and I never heard from the company again (in any form, verbal or written).

Resolution: It seems ridiculous to even write this, but … don’t make it sound like you’ve made an offer, if you haven’t.

Who’s Really Involved: The Whole Family

The business case for handling all candidates with grace, dignity, and professionalism is clear: it reflects on the company, it builds good will, the candidate could become a future customer, etc.  My strongest case, though, is a “personal” one.

If your family is anything like mine, when someone is out of work or looking for a better job … everyone knows they are going for the interview … everyone is praying, hoping, wishing for them … everyone is waiting for the results.  Telling everyone you didn’t get the job is bad enough.  Telling them that you don’t know — that the company thought so little of you that they didn’t even bother getting back to you — is far more embarrassing – and, to bring things full circle, damages the reputation of the company in the community (or at least in the family circle).

With the greatest encouragement, I can only say: “Make the call or send the e-mail.  Either way, get back to the candidate … please.”  You’ll feel better … so will they — and their whole family, too.

Is exuding gladness, humility, and hopeful expectation an important part of servant leadership?

Last Sunday, I had the privilege of attending a Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York that was led by Archbishop Timothy Dolan.  It was a special experience (complete with incense, full choir, pipe organ, etc.), especially coming during the Advent season (the period of preparation and anticipation leading up to Christmas).  I appreciated it deeply on a personal, religious level.  What I’d like to share with you today, though, are the leadership notes that I drew from the archbishop’s presence.

The Servant Leader

Archbishop Dolan cuts a large presence, both in physical stature (he looks like he could easily have been a Division I lineman in college) and personality – clearly gregarious and vibrant in nature, smiling broadly and constantly and engaging the congregation in ways large and small, more than holding his own against the backdrop of the grand gothic cathedral.  Observing him in this setting for the hour-long Mass, several  servant-leader characteristics stood out to me – none of which require a dramatic setting or a high position in the hierarchy, and all of which can be put to good use by leaders (formal and informal) in a wide range of settings and organizations.

• Exuding Gladness  – Every aspect of the archbishop’s body language virtually shouted “I’m so glad to be here with you.”  There are two parts to this: 1 – joy at doing what you’re doing; 2 – gladness that you are there to serve the people who are with you.What effect does it have on a team to perceive their leader’s passion for what they do and who they serve and interact with?
• Humility  – While the archbishop of New York is generally considered to be the head of the tens of millions of Catholics in the U.S., Dolan carried himself in a way that said, “I may have this big job – but I’m really the same guy that you watch the football game with over chicken wings and beer at the local sports bar.”  When you have a job that requires you to make moral judgments (as any leader does), the people must feel that you understand and share their interests if they are going to accept your judgments.Would it make a difference to how you felt about your organization if you believed your leader saw themselves as “above the masses” rather than perceiving that they “felt your pain”?
• Humor and Hopeful Expectation – In speaking about patience, Dolan related an anecdote about his history of dieting – where, when he doesn’t succeed in losing weight right away, he gets discouraged quickly … and inevitably goes out for a juicy cheeseburger, fries, and a big milkshake!  A little humor goes a long way in building rapport in most settings, of course — but the larger message was broader: “We’re going to have our stumbles (personally and professionally) – it is part of life.  Let’s not lose heart and get down on ourselves; let’s keep moving forward, toward our ultimate goals, with hope and expectation.”How does it feel to be guided by a leader who deals realistically with mistakes and stumbles (yours and theirs), and keeps pointing you toward your long term goals, unshaken and undeterred?

We all have some roles as leaders today (for our teams, our organizations, or our families).  What can we do this week to exude gladness, act humbly, and lead with humor and hopefulness?