Working to Be a Leader

When a Colts fan was on her way out of the restaurant where I was watching Super Bowl XLIV, this woman made it a point to stop next to me, touch my shoulder and say with a big smile on her face and a smirk in her voice, “The Colts really are the best team.  The Saints don’t have a chance in hell to beat the Colts.”  Obviously, she hadn’t read the e-mail I had received from a friend in NOLA.

“It is hard to express the wonderful effect the Saints have had on our community – it has brought us all together in the glow of their achievement, and we are awash in black and gold and ‘Who Dat’.  I am sure the intense and widespread emotional involvement is directly related to the depth of commitment we have made to the recovery and improvement of NOLA. So many things are coming back but not there yet, but here is one area where success is palpable and was a long time coming (43 years!).  And it’s wonderful Lagniappe that Drew Brees is such a fine  human being – not just a great quarterback.”  Suzy Mague, a woman I met when volunteering in NOLA after Hurricane Katrina, pinpointed what was going to help the Saints win the Super Bowl:  the collective belief in success by those in the Gulf Coast region.

Lagniappe is a term used in Louisiana which  means “”something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure.”  What the Saints gave the city of New Orleans were gifts of hope, commitment to a goal, and success against great odds to even reach the Super Bowl.  What the city of New Orleans gave back was their enthusiastic support and hope that the area’s recovery would be as successful as that of their Saints.

 The consensus was that the Colts were the better team, Peyton Manning the best quarterback ever, the defense so strong that Manning had only been sacked 10 times all season, and on and on.  My clapping and cheering for the Saints when they were behind 10-0 in the first quarter did give me pause.  Yet, as is the nature of a 60-minute game, there was still a chance.  In football, you have to play the game to the very last second even if your team is losing 54-0.  The Saints went the distance in great form.

To lead off the second half of the game, Saints’ Coach Sean Payton used a tactic that brought his team success:  a practiced  surprise.  For the first time in Super Bowl history, a team started the third quarter with an onside kick.  The Saints punter made a short kick (more than 10 yards) to the Colts, a Colts player touched then lost the ball, a Saints player recovered the ball, and the Saints earned very good field position.  The Saints had practiced this surprise over and over again during the week leading up to the big game.  The timing made history, shifted the momentum to the Saints, and helped them come away with a 31-17 victory.

Today I wish that I could call the Colts fan who told me to give up on the Saints because they didn’t have a chance.  There is always a chance, always an opportunity to succeed whether on the football field, a baseball diamond, or the workplace playing field.  Give yourself a chance by practicing a surprise that can get you noticed,  realize the potential you have as a leader and become an outstanding team player for your followers while working to be a leader.

Miss me?  My last post was on December 10, 2009, around the time when I began working on another level playing field special report.  Almost finalized, it will be availabe  at the Leadership Training Room website in early February.

The report contains almost 11,000 words that I’ve crafted into a letter and six essays about the impact of the Great Recession on lives, my own included.  Great Recession (two words, 15 characters with the space) is  better to use in a 20-page report than writing out the worst economy since the Great Depression (six words and 40 characters with spaces). 

The level playing field special reports I write are based on workplace behavior and the impact of external factors on an individual’s performance.  My reports are positioned to inform, educate, and enlighten readers on topics that resonant with them and can help further their careers.  The youngest of nine children, my older siblings loved to tell me, “Children are to be seen and not heard.”  Well, I’m being heard now on an international stage like this blog and enjoying writing to be heard by you and others.

What I’ve also been doing since I last posted a blog entry is volunteering the area of human resources for organizations.  The work has included collaborating with other volunteers in the process to fill a position:  developing an accurate position description, reviewing and evaluating resumes, identifying the first and second tier candidates to be called in for interviews, and interviewing a series of professionals to filter out the one we feel has the credentials and the ‘good fit’ demeanor to be hired.

Although I’ve hired people previously, the hiring process during the Great Recession has been different.  It’s different because I’m sensing desperation by how words are strung together.  Very determined to get a job since being laid off or fearing being laid off, the tone of a candidate’s writing often gives off a feel of, “It’s all about me and you should hire me because I am so great and I really need this job!”

How do I know that?  Well, in one very long cover letter, the writer composed 12 sentences and they all focused on her.  “I am…”   “I have…”  “I worked…” “I look forward…” was what I read and thought, “What about how her skills, knowledge, and experiences apply to and can benefit our organization?”

Hers was not the only cover written that way.  Many came in with a form cover letter with obviously only the inner address and salutation changed—which is not good form from my perspective.  What I wanted to read in their sentences was that the prospective candidate had done their research:  been to our website, searched periodicals online that could provide them more background, and then could translate this information into words that created a relationship between our needs and their backgrounds.

Resumes, also, left a lot to be desired.   Proof and proof again.  Use the “Grammar Check” in Word.  Punctuate consistently in descriptions and bullets.  Be accurate with the tense:  all past or all present tense.  Etc., etc., etc.

Finally, if you want to be heard and be seriously considered to be hired for a position, use the appropriate wording to describe what you do.  We, charged with hiring an employee, need to trust that an individual expressing an interest in being a candidate and possibly ‘the one’  hired, has documented authentically what she has done and is capable of doing from the first day on the job.

Whether you are in the process of developing a cover letter or resume—or an 11,000 word paper—write so that you are heard.   Now, it’s time for me to go resume finalizing my next level playing field special report.

A leader’s position carries with it responsibility to inspire followers and use power wisely.  It also includes teaching others to jump barriers and give up their silo thinking in order to explore new possibilities.

A few years ago when I was at a friend’s apartment, I noticed that her dog, a big German Shepard that stood maybe 24” high, was confined to the living room by a piece of wood placed at each doorway.  The barrier was only 18” inches high – a height the dog could have walked or jumped over with ease.

I knew this because my dog Emelie, a mix of Border collie and Samoyed raised exploring beaches and mountain paths, easily jumped the piece of wood.  In fact, she roamed all over the house, jumping or knocking down the barrier if it got in her way.  The other dog, who only got out to a small yard three times a day, looked at Emelie, whined, and after a couple of times testing her freedom and being disciplined for doing so, was too afraid to venture forth into risking another jump.

An executive coaching client recently commented to me that she values my creative input because her staff can’t see or won’t speak up about the ‘possibilities’ of a situation.  She is a ‘roamer’ but her staff uses what I call ‘silo thinking’ – confining their perspective to a narrow column of influence.   A silo is a structure used to store materials, in this picture it is grain on a farm.

Grain silos on a farm

Silo thinking in followers means that instead of looking out to the horizon, employees see the walls of the job description, the risks of speaking up, and the fear of going out of their comfort zones to explore unknown territory.  They’ll share ideas with peers but won’t speak up at meetings or with their managers.

The influence of their corporate climate, consequences of making a mistake in front of others, and their own ‘mental training’ are just some reasons for their ‘silo’ thinking.  It could be age – never being asked before for creative ideas – or conditioning over the years by being told what to do, how to do it, and when to do it instead of being empowered to individualize their work.  Or the fact that people don’t want to expand for fear of the repercussions of what new activities they might be asked to participant in or that they would have to move out of their usual role to take on leadership themselves of an initiative.

My client consistently strives to inspire, model creative thinking, and provide opportunities for staff input.  She is persistent in efforts to overcome her staff’s ‘silo thinking’ and resistance to jump barriers.  However, with each subtle shift in behavior from individuals, my client gains confidence to continue her efforts to engage her staff in barrier jumping behavior.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

How do you celebrate late fall holidays?  What memories do these celebrations evoke for you of holidays past?  How do you manage your energy when the season seems to be full of business parties, family gatherings, and year-end business (or semester-end) deadlines?

As students were leaving the management class I teach on Tuesday, November 24, I wished them a “Happy Thanksgiving”.  Based on my previous blog post “My Thanksgiving Ritual” it’s obvious that the holiday is important for me.  Giving thanks, being with family and friends, eating special foods around giving thanks is the most meaningful celebration of my year.  Yet, Thanksgiving the holiday is not that important for everyone.

The Tuesday after Thanksgiving, I asked a student intern in the Management Department, “How was your Thanksgiving?”  She told me that she and her family don’t celebrate Thanksgiving; they are Muslim and enjoyed a traditional feast on the following day.

As co-chair of the NYC Employee Assistance Professional Association (EAPA)-Women’s Issues Committee, I recently helped to facilitate a discussion on the many ways that the holidays are celebrated at this time of year.  We talked about Christmas and the joy of singing carols, we talked about Hanukkah and the meaning of gelt, we talked about Kawanzaa and the rituals that were developed in 1966 by Rod Karenga.

One of our members quietly spoke up to say that Christmas was a very special holiday for her family.  It wasn’t about a tree, the food, the presents.  Their marking of the holiday was spiritual and about the religious meaning and their being together as a family.

Memories both wonderful and traumatic surface at this time of year.  The time dad was drunk and knocked over the Christmas tree or hit a child, the times both your parents made spectacles of themselves at a party, the inability to get out of a truly dysfunctional home to be with neighbors in their peaceful home.  Memories that can fade when they are replaced with new memories by meaningful sharing with significant others.

We—well, I know I do—seem to travel at a faster pace during the holidays, moving around like the Energizer Bunny.  From Thanksgiving Eve watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade balloons get blown up to the time the ball drops in Time Square on New Year’s Eve, we are surrounded by a marketing assault to buy, buy, buy and special discount prices in ads that seem to be everywhere, music in lobbys and department stores that doesn’t always put you in the holiday mood because it’s not the holiday you celebrate, and the bills that come due for the gifts you charge.

My holiday shopping done when I was in Tuolumne County over Thanksgiving, my joy now is to celebrate the light I find in this season by giving final marks to my wonderful students who moved out of their comfort zones to learn about organizational behavior from me, getting together with friends to exchange thoughtful gifts,  baking of a carrot cake for the staff at my gym, and soaking in the bright lights of the breathtaking decorations all around Manhattan.

However you mark this season of holidays, I wish you a universal message of health, love, and peace.

As a young child, I’d get up on Thanksgiving morning with the smell and look of wonderful food filling my senses.  While Mom was busy cooking a 22 pound turkey, making homemade Parker House rolls (the best I ever tasted), and creating the rest of our traditional meal, I’d watch the Macy’s parade on the TV.  Later, I’d join my sisters in getting the table ready for dinner that could include seven or twelve or more family members and friends.

Mom was born in New York City and left in 1920—before the Macy’s parade started in 1924.  Living in Los Angeles on what could have been a pretty warm day, we watched the thematic floats roll by on the TV screen, marching bands from around the country perform, and large balloons guided by strong ropes and stronger Macy employees float along the parade route of onlookers looking as if they were freezing.

Maybe that’s the reason that a couple of years after I moved into an appartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan just two blocks from where the Macy’s balloons get blown up on Thanksgiving Eve, I was attracted to seeing the characters come to life.

Snoopy in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2008

Specifically, I began inviting friends over to share some food and drink then join me in walking over to see the ballons.  There was something magical about looking at flat pieces of heavy-duty plastic grow into a form that brought memories and a smile of delight to those watching.

The idea for having my ‘annual’ event was also routed in the Christmas Eve party that my sister-in-law Jean had every year.  It was a time to feast but also to join together to sing Christmas Carols and catch up with those that I hadn’t seen for a year.

Maybe it was 1991 when my annual Thanksgiving ritual became a part of my life.  Each year after that, the guest list got bigger and my home fuller with clients, friends, neighbors, and family.  In 2002, I didn’t have a party since I was getting ready to remodel my home; the following year, my sister Alice died a few days before Thanksgiving.  I was sick with exteme grief and loss when a friend called to tell me he had ticket to the reviewing stand of the parade. 

This year, I continue with my holiday ritual, remembering Mom and Jean, and their influence on my own Thanksgiving party, the many people who have shared the gathering with me, and the new generation of Hendersons who are now being educated on the magic of the balloons.

May the holiday be happy and your Thanksgiving meaningful.

On Monday evening, November 9, I attended the Mary Travers memorial service at Riverside Church near the Hudson River at 120th Street in Manhattan.

Mary Travers, the Mary in the Peter, Paul & Mary folksingers, activists, and life enrichers, died in September from complications of  leukemia.  However, her spirit was very much alive when Peter, Paul, and a host of celebrities, politicians, spiritual leaders, and friends spoke about her gifts as a singer but most of all her passion and dedication to helping others.

After a video montage was shown on a large screen above the altar of the gothic church, Peter and Paul took center stage to welcome over 1,200 in the audience who came to pay tribute to the role Mary had played in their own and others’ lives.  As the singers warmed up their guitars, they said how hard it was to sing without Mary’s voice and invited the audience to sing her part while they sang harmony.

The song they chose was quickly recognized and as I joined in singing “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” I felt chills go through my entire body.  I, like everyone else it seemed, knew every word in every verse from decades of hearing it sung in person or on the radio or through speakers.

The New York Choral Society

I first saw Peter, Paul & Mary in-person when I was a student at the University of California at Berkeley.  And their songs followed me through my career.  Mary with her singing partners had been performing for nearly 50 years at concerts throughout the world, fund-raisers for human rights causes and political candidates running for office, and gatherings on the Mall in Washington to lift their voices to support Martin Luther King, Jr. and others who brought light to areas of growth for America.

President Barack Obama sent a note that Peter read to the audience, former President Bill Clinton appeared in a video, and former presidential candidate and senator George McGovern got up to thank Mary for her role in his career.  Another former presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) also went to the podium and told us how a fund-raiser early in his political career where Peter, Paul & Mary sang was the turning point to staying in a political race and continuing on his path.

To see a full list of speakers and performers, click here.

The evening together lasted four hours, exhausting emotionally and physically since like others in the audience we were up and down to give  standing ovations, sing along, clap, and sway with the music.  Whoopi Goldberg offered moments of laughter when she went to speak and said to the effect, “Forget those serious tunes.  I like ‘Puff the Magic Dragon.’  That’s my favorite song!”  Also, near the end of the program when Peter noted that the potted plants on the altar could be taken by anyone in the audience (Mary would have liked that no cut flowers were used, he said), before Peter finished his speech Whoopi got up from the front row, walked to a ledge below the stage, and picked up a potted plant then returned to her seat as the laughter gently rolled back and up from those who could see what she had done to the back row of the balcony.

Toward the end, Judy Collins sang “Amazing Grace” and triggered my thinking about the role performers play in society and the larger culture.  Mary’s legacy lives on not just by the lives she changed but by her commitment to use her power and influence in causes that promoted justice and harmony.

A leader’s legacy is not built in a day.  It is earned over years of positive contributions to the greater good.  I can’t say that I supported every cause that Mary did.  But I can say that I know the legacy she leaves is one that will inspire me to make the most of the life that I have in using my gifts as an educator and coach to help others reach their full potential.

On Sunday, November 1, over 42,000 registered runners in the New York City Marathon sped, ran, walked, or limped through the streets of the five boroughs. As the premium runners raced their way through Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan, the majority of runners ran at a slower pace.

Runners nearing the finish line

As in years past, I like to watch the runners as they near the finish line, specifically those who take four or more hours to finish the 26.2 mile course—a course the leaders had run in just over two hours.

This year, I found a place behind a barricade just past the 26 mile sign in Central Park.  That vantage point gave me the opportunity to slap hands with runners zooming with enthusiasm that they were close to reaching  their goal or dragging with focused determination that they would reach the finish line even if they had to crawl.

Many of those going past had their names on their t-shirts, a way to tell the total crowd of over a million cheerleaders along the route that they wanted a shout out of, “Hi, Amy (or Frances or Tim or…). Keep going. You’re doing great.”

One man was more direct with not just his want for a shout out but a need to be encouraged. On this man’s shirt was a directive, “Yell, Hi, Art!”

Of course, I, as did others around me, did yell, “Hi, Art!”

My working to be a leader lesson from Art:  identify what you need from others then make it clear how they can fill that need for you.

Keneth Chenault, CEO, American Express, was the subject of The Colvin Interview in the C-Suite Strategies series in Fortune Magazine’s October 26, 2009 edition.  Geoff Colvin, senior editor at the magazine, started his profile by writing, “American Express CEO Ken Chenault is one of the few Wall Street chiefs who have come through the financial meltdown and recession looking good.”

Colvin’s article describes how Chenault lead his company through the worst economy since the Great Depression when, in the CEO’s words, ”The reality is that we were on the verge of an absolute disaster and collapse.”

During his first year in the job, Chenault learned and used crisis management skills on and after 9/11 that he could apply to the economic crisis.  Although the article focused on the financial challenges he faced and his outlook for the new economy, it also includes insights from the CEO that other leaders might find of interest.

1.  Leaders should continue to deal with the basic issues of their companies while planning for long- and short-term growth based on future obstacles as well as opportunities.

2.  Chenault feels that “the hardest time to bring about change is in good times.”  In other words, leaders need to be focused and decisive in good times to be ready for the less-than-good times.

3.  Transparency.  The CEO used that word in reference to proposed new financial services regulation and the impact the government’s intentions could have on the economy.

4.  On the topic of executive pay, Chenault said that he believed not in short-term packages to compensate executives but multiyear packages.

5.  After the company and growth opportunities, his third reason for staying at AMEX even though he was considered for a leadership role at another financial services company was “I like the people.” 

I liked what I learned from this article and suggest you might find it of interest yourself.

On Monday, I had a two-hour dental appointment scheduled.  Going to the dentist is not my favorite thing to do and listening to the drill or the scraping of tartar not my favorite past-time.

Maybe that was the reason that I chose to wear an orange plaid shirt, orange pants, and my lime green faux seude jacket to the dentist.  To use colors to brighten my day.  To not be afraid of what others would think of me. 

Sitting down on a bench in a car on the R train at 9:30 a.m., I saw a few people noticing my color combination.  And, as usual, I looked around to see theirs.  In a car when all the seats were taken and many passengers were standing, I saw only one other person who was not wearing a solid black or dark colored jacket or coat.

The other person was a woman wearing a dark blue or black jacket covered with bright colored flowers.  Lovely, I thought.  And looking closer, I saw a few bright colored sweaters, shirts, and other clothing underneath the ’standard’ New York outer garmets.

Wearing black coats or clothes is standard for New Yorkers.  It’s a color that wears well (dirt and stains aren’t as obvious) and goes with almost anything.  Also, it’s the choice for the severe look popular in fashion, design, and other fields.

Growing up in Los Angeles, I remember that my mother didn’t want any of her four girls to wear black.  Since I was a size 18 when I just 12, I would go with my mom to Lane Bryant or the large size women’s section of department stores to try to find clothes that fit.  About 98% of those clothes were black.

 My older sister Alice made many of my clothes on a then old pedal powered Singer sewing machine.  Ten years older than me, she chose to work her magic with bright colored cloth, never black.  There was one exception.  One year I was a witch for Halloween and my sister Alice designed and created a fantastic costume for me complete with a homemade hat.  That costume won a prize at a competition held at our local park.  Alice created many costumes for me and another sister; we always won ribbons at local events.

A few years ago at the urging of a close friend, I went to a color consultant and was told that I should never wear black.  He said that my color was a ”bright spring” and that I could wear shades of brown but not black.  Going through my closet, I purged a lot of the dark clothes that I thought would slim me and help me fit in.  I kept one black 2-piece top and skirt for evening or special occasions.  One occasion was Alice’s funeral in 2003, when, over my mourning clothes, I wore a yellow jacket.

Writing this a few days after what turned out to be a pretty painless trip to the dentist, I realize that the colors on the subway car on Monday struck a memory chord.  The memories of the many homemade prize-winning Halloween costumes Alice created.  Memories of the choices my mother and sister made for me as a child.  Memories of the encouragement to not be like all the other girls but to be fearless about standing out by wearing a bright color combination, a combination I’ll wear as a leader in professinal groups, educator in front of audiences, coach who sits across a desk from her clients, passenger on a subway car.

Happy Halloween!  Hope your day is a bright one.  Now, I have to go and decide what I want to wear today.

Last week, I spoke on the topic of “Social Media and Your Job Search:  A Strategic Approach” on Jane Cranston’s “Great Job In Tough Times” tele-seminar. 

 The positive responses to my talk inspired me repeat the program—and to offer a series of tele-seminars on the four major social media platforms.

Please click here to see a full menu of courses listed on the Public Seminars page of my website.  The titles include:

LinkedIn 101:  The Basics to Realize Returns on Relationships

Facebook 101:  How to Establish Online Work/Life Balance

Twitter 101 and You Tube Basics:  How to Make Your Tweets and Videos Remarkable.

If you don’t see what you want here, contact me at Leigh@ltr-nyc.com to discuss a customized tele-seminar or in-person workshop for a group of individuals or your company (programs for business will be on the next schedule).