Leadership Limerick: Intention Deficit Disorder

To break things up a bit in 2011, I will be offering a leadership limerick each Monday, highlighting an idea or strategy about effective leadership in limerick form.

When energy and resources are spent
It's best done with great intent

If through the motions we go
End results are just so-so

And no one knows what we meant

I increasingly find myself interacting with individuals and organizations suffering from the dreaded I.D.D. … Intention Deficit Disorder.   Without understanding the why behind the what any efforts feel flat, disconnected, and do little to advance strategy.

So the next time you feel you or your colleagues about to embark on an autopilot commitment, pause and revisit the intended purpose so that you can infuse it into your actions and truly achieve the desired results.

Leadership Limerick: Values on Display

To break things up a bit in 2011, I will be offering a leadership limerick each Monday, highlighting an idea or strategy about effective leadership in limerick form.

You share your values every day
In what you do, not just what you say

Only when those both are aligned
Will you be more likely to find

Others willing to let you lead the way

We have a lot of expressions for the power of values:  Actions speak louder than words.  What you do speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you say. Walk the talk.  Practice what you preach.

People form impressions of our character and our trustworthiness over time through the consistent alignment of what we say with what we do.  Words matter, but without corresponding action, they ring hollow.  As a result, it's no surprise that the one major revision to the Kouzes and Posner model in The Leadership Challenge moved the practice Model the Way from the third position to the first practice.  To lead and inspire a shared vision in others first requires an internal dialogue about the values in which we choose to invest and how we can demonstrate them consistently in thought and deed.

Just as a car falls out of alignment navigating the potholes of the road, so does our own alignment with what we believe fall out of sync, both individually and organizationally.  It is good now and then to take ourselves in for a tune-up, reflecting on what we say is important to us, refreshing our commitment, and realigning our actions.

Leadership Limerick: When It's Time to Move On

To break things up a bit in 2011, I will be offering a leadership limerick each Monday, highlighting an idea or strategy about effective leadership in limerick form.

You say that it's no longer fun
So perhaps your time here is done

When your energy is drained
And your expression is pained

Toward  new challenges you probably should run

Even the most interesting work with the best colleagues can be draining, except that the sense of depletion comes from giving it your all toward something that you care about in the good company of others.

When our work—be it career or volunteer—starts to be little more than a negative drain of energy and emotion, it's time to make a change before we become a negative drain on others.  Like the best entertainers, we need to not succumb to the temptation of sticking around beyond our prime … or our passion … and instead leave while positive feelings still exist.  Doing so frees up the energy we've been using to "psych ourselves up" for new work that we are automatically psyched to complete.

Campaigns Provide a Focus and a Fulcrum

Yesterday, I Tweeted that it might be a cool idea for associations to sponsor an annual "How to ____ Week," a week dedicated to sharing tips via blog posts, e-magazines, video clips, and podcasts that respond to common concerns and questions of members.  Members always value receiving insights from their peers and this could be a fun way to aggregate and share a lot of content in a short time period.

Principled Innovation founder Jeff DeCagna Tweeted back asking, "wouldn't it be better to crowdsource this kind of basic support so it can be a continuous flow instead of just one week?"  It's a great question.  I'd say the answer is yes and no.

Yes, because we of course want to be sharing relevant how to information on a continuous basis.

No, because without a focal point such crowdsourced efforts often languish and wither away.  I don't get up most days thinking of what I can contribute to ASAE's Associapedia and I doubt I'm unusual in that regard.  But if ASAE set a goal of getting 1000 new entries during a one-week period, I most certainly might make time to add some of my own.

Just because Breast Cancer Awareness Month is in October doesn't mean people stop caring, but it's a smaller group of people who acting on their concern.  The month rallies the larger community, focus attention in a meaningful way, and hopefully, retain some of the participants' interest in contributing after the month ends.

And even the most dedicated NPR supporters generally don't think about making a contribution outside of a Pledge Drive.  And within those drives daily and hourly goals are set to help entice members of the listener crowd to make their contribution.

The crowd is busy.  Always.  Sure, a percentage of any crowd or community will be deeply committed to a cause or effort on an ongoing basis.  But if we want the attention and the participation of the masses, a short campaign can provide a focal point for their contributions and be a fulcrum for greater results.  And perhaps over time, these episodic campaigns will help institutionalize such broad awareness and action for their cause that they no longer will be necessary.

Leadership Limerick: The Need for Narrative

Every Monday, I offer a leadership limerick, highlighting an idea or strategy about effective leadership in limerick form.

You must have a story to tell
An be prepared to deliver it well

For if interest is there
And you have nothing to share

Support is unlikely to swell

Entrepreneurs have long prepared for the pitch, the chance to entice venture capitalists with a short presentation about their new company, program, or service.

Similarly, employees and job seekers have long known the value of the elevator speech, the chance to make their case to an important decision-maker during the length of an elevator ride.

But all of us have a need for narrative whenever we are seeking to entice the attention, interest, or support of others.  Artfully crafting that short story into language and a form that excites others upon hearing it is a skillset that no individual can overlook.  This is particularly true if the complete story to be told is quite long, complex, or filled with facts.

Once upon a time we all knew the power of personal stories.  The next time you need to make your case honor this tradition with a narrative worth knowing.