Unfortunately, when the issue of “character” is in the news today, the focus is usually on character failures — lack of integrity, marital unfaithfulness, greed and dishonesty. So to be able to talk about a man of good character is a privilege.

When thinking about the title of this entry, I was indecisive about whether it should be “To a Great Man of Character” or “To a Man of Great Character”. Obviously, I chose the latter — for two reasons. First, in the world’s eyes I don’t know if Spence Sawyer would be characterized as a “great man” — in the general terms of incredible success professionally or in terms of raw talent. Although he was talented in several areas and he was also quite successful in his profession, most who knew Spence focused on who he was as a person. So, the second reason I chose this title is because almost everyone who knew Spence would agree he was a man of “great character”. It was his character that impacted others, and most who knew him (including myself) found themselves wanting to emulate him.

Spence Sawyer died this week at the age of 78. He was born and raised in the suburbs of west Chicago and spent most of his adult life in this area, with a few years early in his professional life living in New Jersey while commuting to New York City. He was the father of seven children, whom he mentored and helped each obtain a private college education (no small feat financially, regardless of the era).

I want to highlight just a few of the character qualities that I first thought of when reflecting on Spence’s life:

Responsible. Responsibility was at the core of Spence’s being — shouldering the responsibility of leading his family and guiding his children, from childhood through adolescence and into their adult lives; taking responsibility to provide leadership in most of the organizations he was committed to (his church, his company [he worked for Illinois Bell and AT&T for forty years], the college he and many of his family members attended), and just in general daily life. If Spence saw something that needed to be done, he would make sure it got done.

Faithful. In his personal relationships, Spence was faithful to his wife, Ruth, of over 50 years, his children, grandchildren and his friends. Spence was “Mr. Reliable”. If he made a commitment, he kept it. You never had to wonder if he was going to show up; he was always there. He followed through on commitments made — in fact, you would never think of Spence not following through. He was rock solid. You wanted him on your team — and he was sought out by organizations because they knew he would help you achieve your goals.

Investing in others. I’m not sure of the best way to put this, or of a good singular term, but Spence gave his life in the service of others. He was not self-promoting. He did not seek positions of leadership — he was seen as a leader and asked to take leadership positions by those around him. After his retirement in the 90’s, he spent much of his time and energy meeting with others — teaching, mentoring, listening and encouraging. Interestingly, because of some early life experiences that impacted him significantly, Spence was reluctant to give advice to others — even when asked. But if you cornered him, you could get him to help you frame the problem and think through the issues you needed to consider. (The result of his investing in others will be seen next week at his memorial service where 800-900 people are expected to honor him and share in the celebration of his life.)

Laughter. From the previous descriptors, one might conclude that Spence was a stern, stodgy, “all work and no play” kind of guy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Spence was one of the best story- and joke-tellers I have ever known, and he loved to laugh. In fact, one of my favorite memories is sitting with him at the kitchen table, having a bowl of ice cream and he would start telling some of the funniest stories I have ever heard. The problem was, he would start tearing up and laughing before he finished the joke — and you found yourself laughing and crying just because he was (and you weren’t exactly sure why)!

There are lots of other personal qualities that characterized Spence, some of which were so ingrained in who he was that you couldn’t think of him not exhibiting them (honesty, integrity, generosity). He was a man of deep spirituality who loved the God he served and who has left a legacy in the lives of those who knew him — that will endure for years to come. I know that I have been deeply impacted by his input into my life and I will miss him dearly. I had the privilege of knowing him for over 30 years, as the father of my wife. His leaving the life on this earth has caused me to seriously reflect on my life and my priorities.

I hope that I will also become a man of great character.

I started reading a good book this week — A Game Plan for Life: The Power of Mentoring by John Wooden and Don Yaeger.  It was recommended to me by a good friend, and I always try to pass on worthwhile reading to others.

The first part of the book covers the seven mentors that influenced Coach Wooden (for those of you who don’t know, he was one of the most successful college basketball coaches of all time, at UCLA). In discussing different types of mentors (professional, personal, spiritual, etc.), he makes a fascinating point:

• “I know that my life has been blessed with incredible opportunities, and as a result, I have a responsibility to reach out to others to share the insights, experiences, heartbreaks, exhilaration — all the lessons I’ve managed to accrue through the nearly one hundred years that God has given me on this planet… Knowledge is nothing unless it is shared.  I know that knowledge for knowledge’s sake is a wonderful ideal, but in reality, it is the transmission of understanding that is the very basis of civilization.” (p.7).

As I work with multi-generational families and family-owned businesses, one of the core principles we emphasize is the process of transferring knowledge, intellectual capital, and life experiences from the senior generations to their children and grandchildren. It is not an easy process — I think it is one of those “important but not urgent” activities that Stephen Covey emphasizes.  Part of my role as a family coach is to help structure activities and processes to help make the transfer happen.
And as we come upon the Thanksgiving holiday, I tend to think about how to best use our time together as a family.  What traditions do we want to keep doing?  Which traditions really aren’t that important or have lost their meaning?  What conversations do I want to have with my adult children when they are home?  What information or life experiences do I want to share with them?

Here are seven “lessons for life” that John Wooden’s father shared with him on a card given at his high school graduation:

1. Be true to yourself.
2. Make each day your masterpiece.
3. Help others.
4. Drink deeply from good books.
5. Make friendship a fine art.
6. Build a shelter against a rainy day.
7. Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings every day. (p.13)

Think about those who have impacted your life and the lessons you learned from them — both from direct instruction and from their modeling.

And then think about what you want to pass on to those who are important to you.  Maybe take some time and share a life experience with someone younger: “You know, I was thinking about … and a lesson I learned. . . . “

Have a great week.

This week I had the opportunity to attend a conference where both John Townsend (author of Boundaries) and Henry Cloud (author of Integrity) spoke on leadership.  Here are some notes of thoughts that I felt were interested and helpful.

John Townsend

Research is verifying the relationship between character, interpersonal skills and performance outcomes.  That is, if you work on the “inside” issues you will see improvement in performance outcomes. (See below for why this is the case.)

Life is more than making right choices – doing cost/benefit analyses.  There are two sets of information that leaders need to listen to – external (verifiable objective facts) + internal (listening to your ‘gut’).  True reality is a combination of objective information plus subjective intuition.

Values  — values are those things that you believe in to the point that they dictate your decisions.

Leaders need to focus less on what the mission statement says their core values are, and get an objective observer to share the values they observe in how the organization actually functions (i.e. focus on what their values are versus what they should be.)

The pendulum is swinging in leadership development from a pure focus on strategic planning, setting goals, managing by objectives, and the variety of technical processes to improve performance to also paying attention to the emotional side of life (and business).  Not focusing on feelings for feelings’ sake, but understanding that feelings play a role in both decision-making and in working as a team.

In decision-making, feelings play the role of relaying signals to the leader – signals that need to be paid attention to and investigated.  Anxiety (or concern or fear) is signaling that there may be a potential danger to heed.  Investigating the reality of the risk and taking steps to manage the risk (if it is real) is wise.  Ignoring the signal could be reckless.

Interestingly, Townsend indicates that the positive function of anger (irritation or frustration at lower levels) is an indication that you have a problem to solve – something is going on that you don’t like.  Now the problem may be internal – that you have unrealistic expectations that aren’t being met.  Or the problem may be external – that someone’s performance is not acceptable and needs to change.

A third emotion he cites that is critical to the business world is passion.  I personally have never considered passion as an emotion previously.  But it makes sense.  Townsend describes passion as “focused desire”.   And most successful leaders have or have experienced passion – that burning desire to do what they are called to.   A challenge for some leaders is that they lose the intensity of their passion / desire over time (which is a whole additional topic of discussion), while others struggle in maintaining the focus of their passion.

[Out of deference to Dr. Townsend and his intellectual capital, I am not going to list all of the positive and negative emotions he addressed in his book Leadership Beyond Reason:  How Great Leaders Succeed by Harnessing the Power of Their Values, Feelings, and Intuition.  Get the book – it is a good, solid leadership book with a unique perspective on the role of feelings in leadership.)

Townsend also believes that emotions play an important role in working effectively together with team members  — negative emotions among team members impede effective functioning, while positive feelings between colleagues facilitate better performance, both individually and as a unit.

He also describes the power of emotions in bringing to mind past relationships (what he and other psychologists call “internal relationships”) – those people who influenced us significantly in the past (parents, teachers, mentors, coaches) and still influence us “in our head”.  Dr. Townsend gives excellent examples of how leaders become stuck in their personal and leadership development because they can’t get past old messages from internalized relationships (“You’ll never amount to anything.”  “In the end, you’ll always screw it up.”)

A key application for me is that both Dr. Townsend and his colleague, Dr. Henry Cloud (whom I also heard) are seeing the need for coaching in the “middle space” for leaders.  There is plenty of coaching and leadership development in the strategic planning, becoming a change agent, etc. space.  And many leaders don’t need (or won’t get) heavy duty “counseling” focusing on personal problems.  But Dr. Cloud argues that there is the “middle space” that needs to be addressed – where a leader’s personal development has not kept pace with the growth of his organization and his or hers resulting responsibilities.  So there is a gap between the weight of their professional responsibilities and the development of personal skills and abilities to effective manage the demands.  Issues in this middle space include recurrent patterns of interpersonal difficulties (types of people you don’t work well with),  anxieties and fears that are making you hesitant to make decisions, personal and family  issues that are interfering with your performance by sapping your emotional energy, etc.  Business leaders need help working though these issues so that they can continue to become more productive leaders (which is the goal of the process).

One last interesting point Dr. Townsend  made about leaders.  Leaders are essential persuaders – they persuade others to follow them.  Initially, they do this by casting vision, identifying goals that will lead to the vision, communicating out a plan to reach the goals and then inspiring his team to share the vision and implement the plan.

But there is a difference between initially persuading followers and keeping them engaged.  For team members to continue to stay engaged with the vision and task, they need a sense of being listened to , understood and cared for by the leader.  This is a different skill set than the initial persuasive skills and many leaders either haven’t developed, don’t value or don’t practice the empathic listening to their team – and this ultimately leads to loss of enthusiasm, discouragement and conflict – for the unheard team member will find someone who will listen to them (other colleagues, other leaders) and this can lead to discontent and division within the team.

I’ll stop there.  “He who has ears to hear, let him listen (and act!)”

I like to learn from others who have been successful.  In our culture, some people look to successful business leaders; others look to athletes or entertainers.  I find some of the best advice from wise people from the past — from classic literature from previous civilizations and cultures.

Here are some thoughts from a king and writer of literature from about 3,000 years ago:

Wisdom in the most important thing; so get wisdom. If it costs everything you have, get understanding.  Treasure wisdom, and it will make you great; hold onto it, and it will bring you honor.”   He goes on to espouse the pre-eminence of acquiring wisdom, and that it will lead to virtually everything else good in life — wealth, influence, health, and peace.

So the question becomes — how does one become wise?  The author responds to this question:

Don’t follow the ways of the wicked; don’t do what evil people do.  Avoid their ways, and don’t follow them.  Stay away from them and keep on going, because they cannot sleep until they do evil.

The author then lays out the principles for obtaining wisdom:

1. Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.
2. Don’t use your mouth to tell lies; don’t ever say things that are not true.
3. Keep your eyes focused on what is right, and look straight ahead to what is good.
4. Be careful what you do, and always do what is right.
5. Don’t turnoff the road of goodness; keep away from evil paths.

So to summarize, he encourages his readers to:

• manage their thoughts,
• watch what they say and speak with honesty,
• keep focused on the good
• act with integrity
• keep away from those who repeatedly make poor choices.

I find these thoughts interesting and applicable to our lives today because there are so many voices telling us what to do and how we should live.  Being past 50 years old and having had the opportunity to view different economic and political seasons, it has become more evident to me that living according to patterns of behavior that have been proven over long periods of time (decades, centuries) is wise.

Although some patterns (leveraging business ventures through credit, buying now and paying later for personal purchases) can work within a short time frame or certain conditions, living within one’s means, saving for the future, and taking preventative steps to manage potential risks seem to work well over the long term.  They are not as exciting, and also are not as potentially rewarding within the short term.

Some may say:  “Desperate times call for desperate measures” and this may be true.  But many desperate people have perished by making unwise decisions in their desperation.  I hope this does not become the case for our country.

An entry I wrote in April about the challenges owners and managers of businesses face in today’s economic environment was published in today’s business section of the Wichita Eagle.  If you missed it previously, you can read the article on the Wichita Eagle website.

Today’s economic environment is taking a huge emotional toll on business owners and managers.  Given the shrinking economy, with orders for manufacturing being canceled or put on hold, with little happening in the construction industry, and with the general public spending less at the retail level — many businesses are having to either cut back employees hours or let them go altogether.

The “hidden” story behind this pattern is the huge emotional strain business owners and managers are experiencing.  And I am hearing from more and more of them each week.

One manufacturing executive told me he volunteered to take a 50% pay cut (his company is owned by a larger private corporation), even though his superiors suggested a 4% reduction for management.  He told me he couldn’t, in good faith, see his employees take a 20% reduction (by means of going to 32 hours per week from 40 hours), and not take at least the same level of reduction.

Other business owners are sharing with me the pain of having to let good team members go, because they don’t have the work needed to cover the overhead.  Some owners are losing sleep and experiencing a level of anxiety they state they never have had previously.

I grew up in a family-owned business.  My father, mother, grandfather and uncle worked together in a manufacturing firm.  And I vividly remember during the economic struggles of the 1970’s conversations during mealtimes about my dad’s concerns.  As a teenager, I was struck by the level of responsibility he felt for providing work (and thus, income) for his employees.  He frequently would share he felt terrible whenever he would have to let someone go, because of the impact it would have on the family — especially the children.  So he tried everything he could to keep them employed, even if it meant having them do tasks that were not directly revenue producing.  The stress of the situation wore him down emotionally, and physically.

Today, business owners struggling with the same issues.  Here are some of the burdens I see them carrying:

• A sense of responsibility in providing for others.  Often, in our culture, business owners are viewed enviously of “having it all” — financial success, time freedom, prestige … Those who own businesses know the other side of the coin — the financial stress of making payroll and paying creditors, and the knowledge that other individuals and families are counting on you to provide for their income.
• Balancing competing needs and demands.  Yes, your employees need work and income.  But the owner must also “keep the ship afloat” — you can’t keep people employed and risk losing the whole business.   Similarly, a business’s vendors and suppliers need to be paid (they have employees, too), but if you pay them, you may not be able to have sufficient funds for your own payroll.
• Guilt.  “I should have …”  or “I shouldn’t have …”  Business owners are experts at second-guessing themselves and expecting themselves to have perfect judgment.  Business owners feel guilty for having to let employees go.  They feel guilty to the remaining team members for not letting other employees go sooner.  And they especially feel guilty for “not having seen this coming.”
• Lack of knowledge about the future.  As the saying goes, no one knows what the future holds.  This is also true for business owners.  But, ironically, they are often asked by others (colleagues, employees, customers, family members, friends) to divine the future:  “When do you think this will turn around?”  And the lack of predictability in our current economic environment wears heavily on business leaders — it is very difficult to make decisions about the future when even the short term (3 to 6 months) is highly unpredictable.
• Pressure from numerous fronts.  Business owners have numerous parties who place pressure on them — their customers, their vendors, their employees, the community, their family, their church and charitable organizations.  And most of these groups are generally unaware of the other parties involved in the business leader’s life — and they are primarily focused on their needs.
• Need for wisdom and discernment.  Most successful business owners (that is, those who have endured difficult times previously) are humble individuals.  They know that they don’t know everything, and that, almost more than anything, they need wisdom and discernment in how to manage during these tumultuous times.   The goal often becomes survival, and they are willing to do what is necessary to accomplish this goal — even if it means not “looking” successful, or taking on responsibilities that are beneath their title and position.  And they are almost always willing to accept counsel from others.

So, the next time you are interacting with someone who owns or manages a business, take some time to listen to them.  Ask them how they are doing.  Give them a word of encouragement or appreciation for all they do for their employees and the community.  And try not to ask them to do something for you — they have enough demands in their life as it is now.

As a psychologist, I naturally find myself observing people’s behavior — their choices, what they are saying, and how they are feeling.  And this is the case now, in the midst of the difficult economic times in which we find ourselves (I am consciously choosing not to use the term “financial crisis”.)

There are three core aspects to any situation that involves human perception and response:

• Reality.  What actually “is” — the facts of the situation. (Using a non-related example: the temperature — which is about 30 degrees F. on a mid March day.)
• Perceptions. How people perceive, view, and interpret the facts.  (Regarding the weather, it seems excessively cold and wintery for this time of year; especially since it was 70 degrees for a few days last week.)
• Reactions.  How people respond both to the reality and their perceptions of the situation — their opinions, feelings, and behaviors. (Many people are somewhat irritable, complaining of the cold [because “it should be warmer”], some people are going on trips to warmer climates.)

These issues are relevant to the current economic challenges we are facing.  First, we must ask ourselves: What are the facts?  Some include:  a) real estate values have dropped significantly (30%-50%) in the past six months;  b) stock values have also decreased significantly (40%-50%) and are the lowest level they have been in decades;  c) as a result of these two factors, individuals’ and families’ financial worth is far lower than it was this time last year;  d) numerous companies are laying off workers and unemployment is at 8%, also a high mark for recent years;  e) financial institutions and the credit market are stressed;  f) the Federal government is taking significant steps to try to rectify the situation.

The next two areas are where we as individuals, families, businesses, communities and a nation, can get “tripped up”, if we are not careful.

Two unhealthy responses to difficult situations include:

1. Ignoring the facts.  As Jim Collins emphasized in Good to Great, successful companies (and by inference, individuals, families, et al) need to brutally face the facts of reality.  Acting like “what is” really “isn’t”, doesn’t help.  Some people call this denial.
2. Panicking and making emotionally-based decisions.  Yes, these are difficult times.  Is it a “crisis”?  Maybe.  Time will tell.  But becoming frantic, making quick not-well-thought-through decisions is not a good strategy.  (Note that some people become paralyzed when they panic and “do nothing” — which may not be a helpful strategy either.)

So what are healthier ways to respond to the current situation (”healthier” as defined functionally by thoughts and actions that lead to survival and better functioning in the future):

• Pay attention to important facts, but don’t become overwhelmed with more information than you can process (and filter out extraneous “noise” — other people’s thoughts, feelings & reactions).  It is important for each of us to understand what is going on in our country, communities, and the world.  But Americans have become ‘news junkies’ and taken in more information than we can possibly manage, process, and respond to — especially on talk radio and cable TV news channels.  The basic facts are there and that is largely what we need to know.
• Make reasoned decisions that lower your exposure to the risks that you can manage.  Each of us can make some individual decisions that can help us manage our own risks — whether at an individual, family, or business level.  Steps like managing expenses more closely, not going into unnecessary debt, and taking advantage of purchasing opportunities due to the economic situation — all are reasonable steps.
• Be thankful and learn to be content.  Most of us are still in situations where we have jobs and income, a place to live, food on the table, and live in safety (I do not want to minimize those who are in more difficult circumstances, but these situations are still true for most Americans.) If this is true for you, be thankful.  There are billions in the world less fortunate.  Also, learn to be content with what you have — your job, your car, your life circumstances — versus focusing on what you wish was different or “what should have been.”
• Be gracious and generous to others.  Most of us know individuals, families and businesses who are struggling currently.  A trap that some fall into is to be judgmental of others — thinking that they are in their current circumstance because “they didn’t …” or “they shouldn’t have …”.  In some cases that may be true.  But in most cases, people are where they are due to many circumstances out of their control.  [In either case, how does it help them to judge them?]  We now have the opportunity to be warm, caring and supportive — and potentially to be generous in some way (maybe with our time, maybe by connecting them with a potential employer).
• Manage your own stress effectively.  Try to limit your exposure to negative spins on the current facts — anger, resentment and bitterness don’t lead to a healthy life.  Manage your own thoughts, worries and anxieties.  Exercise.  Sleep. Take time for re-energizing yourself.  Spend time with friends and family.  (All things that we know we should do.)

Just as many individuals recount some of the more difficult periods in their lives as the most rich and rewarding times, so we also have the opportunity to come through these current circumstances as stronger individuals, families, communities, and possibly, a stronger healthier nation.

So, “Carpe diem!” (along with grace and peace in your daily life and relationships).

This is the time of year when families gather together – college students are on break, young adults return home to visit, and the extended family celebrates Christmas and New Year’s together.*

So it is also the time when parents who have been successful in business turn their focus to their family. This is both a good thing and it creates difficulties. It is generally good for parents to engage relationally with their family; unfortunately, for some this is an infrequent occurrence due to their focus on work (or hobbies). But when we try to “re-enter” into the family relationally, the style and manner in which we do so can create tension, discomfort, and result in conflict.

Having grown up in a family owned business with a father who was an extremely hard worker, but who also cared about his family, we would experience this pattern. Through the year dad would work long hours, and my mom was the primary conductor of family matters. (This is not to say that he wasn’t involved at all, but until later in his business life, she had the primary responsibility of interacting with the kids regarding our daily affairs.) But around the Christmas holidays, dad would refocus and engage at a higher level in family matters. And, right or wrong, this pattern has largely continued in my own nuclear family.

So, both from observing and experiencing this pattern as a child, and now as a parent, I have seen some ways that “parent re-entry” can go better, or not so well. Let me share some of these observations.

Leading a family is different than leading a business. In business, there is a formal hierarchy with established patterns of communication and decision-making. In family matters, the structure, communication patterns and decision-making procedures are more fluid – largely influenced by which family members are involved and the specific areas of discussion or decision – and obviously, tend to be more relational. As a result, “top down” communication and decision-making that many business owners and executives try to transfer to the family doesn’t go over well (in some families, this is a extreme understatement.) The implication? Don’t try to run family meetings during the holidays like you run business meetings.

Influence is largely a factor of the quality of the relationship in families. Many parents want to utilize the time with their children and grandchildren to communicate important information – their goals and desires for the family, what is important to them, principles they want their children to live by. And this is good. However, the method by which this is done can “backfire”. If the parent does not currently have a positive relationship with the child (or whoever the family member is), the message will, at best, be ignored, and more probably may create a response of anger, resentment or disdain. I would suggest the following:

a) Spend individual time with family members. Talk with them, listen to them, ask them about their lives: what they are excited about, what they are learning, what are some challenges they are facing.

b) Share personal stories about your life. Rather than give a lecture (along with a handout) with your “five core principles for life”, share stories about experiences you have had and possibly the lessons you learned (sometimes the principles are better left unsaid). Think about what makes a good story: build the context, focus on the people involved, share sensory experiences (what it looked, sounded, smelled like), and share your thoughts and feelings throughout the experience.

c) Be aware that you may first need to rebuild relationships with others before they are going to be willing to receive input from you. If you haven’t ever read it, read The Five Love Languages by my friend, Dr. Gary Chapman. Then discuss it with the family member and see in what way love is best communicated to them. Then do it!

When planning activities for the family, give options and choices. Let the family give their input on what they would like to do and how they would like to spend the time together. Although your ideas may be great (and I am sure they are, just like mine are), they may not be what the others in your family want to do. If you want to have positive “family time”, then it makes sense that the family should be able to choose what would be fun for them.

I hope these suggestions will help your time together with your family over the holidays to be fun, positive and lead to significant interactions with those whom you love.

Merry Christmas!

Paul

*Note: This is a reprint of this posting from December 2007.  However, I received so many personal comments and emails from people who appreciated it and forwarded it to others, I decided to post it again.

This weekend I had the opportunity to speak at a conference for major donors of a charitable organization. It was a beautiful setting in Southern California, and my wife accompanied me, which was a treat.

The other keynote presenter was Carlos Sepulveda, who is the CEO of Interstate Batteries, and a dynamic presenter. In addition to his presentation, Mr. Sepulveda had a follow-up question and answer session in which he expanded upon the concepts he shared. I thought I would share some of his thoughts which were thought provoking to me:

• “There is no such thing as business ethics.” He did not mean this in terms of an oxymoron. Rather, Mr. Sepulveda’s point was that there really is no division between public and private behavior – choices and decisions are made by individuals, whether or not the context is in the home, community or workplace. As Carlos stated directly, “Truth cannot be compartmentalized.” Unfortunately, we have seen this issue (behavior and choices matter, regardless of the context) impact our lives and news repeatedly (Enron, sexual misconduct by business and government leaders, business policies driven by greed).
• “Successful people absorb in early in life what reality is, and they spend the rest of their lives making and managing decisions made in reality.” Mr. Sepulveda shared some about his early life’s history, which was rocky, and the resulting lessons he learned. He affirmed straightforwardly, “You will never be any more successful than your understanding of reality” and that this is true in one’s personal life as well as in business.
• Regarding businesses delivering value, he stated that “competence delivers value.” He stated that the way to increase competence is through a combination of “ability + technique + effort”. He reported that our culture is always trying to “get around” work, but that ultimately work is good, brings value to our lives, and the means by which goals are reached.
• The definition of the role of a CEO, according to Mr. Sepulveda, is encapsulated in the initials “CEO”. The primary responsibilities of a CEO are to: 1. Organize (goals and resources); 2. Encourage others – to always be coaching those around you; and 3. Confront – to confront actions, beliefs and policies that don’t match reality, and to confront the gap between promised results and what is actually delivered. In a follow-up discussion, he indicated he tries to accept bad news well (that is, not “blow up”) but he asks the question: “How did it happen?”
• There are two primary activities that make up life – resource allocation (time, our “brain”, talents, financial resources) and conflict resolution. We are constantly making choices about how to use our time, talents, money, etc. and this is the daily activities of our lives. But because we live in relationship with others, and we all have our unique perspectives, values and priorities, this leads to conflicts over how resources should be allocated. And so the second most frequent activity we engaged in is managing these conflicts over the use of our resources.

I found Mr. Sepulveda an extremely engaging speaker, a thoughtful leader, and one who clearly caused me to repeatedly ask myself: “Really?” “Is that true?” He brings a unique perspective to leadership and daily life. If you ever have the chance to hear him speak, I would encourage you to choose to do so.

Business Success, Conflict, Conflict resolution, Executive performance, Leadership, Management, work

Friends, although the text on my most recent blog entry appears on my blog site, the version that was sent out to subscribers was blank.  Not sure how (or why) that happened. Sorry.

So, rather than go through the same action again, I think the easiest solution is for you to click here and it will send you directly to the entry, entitled “Principles for Leading Effectively in Times of Financial Turmoil”.   Sorry for the hassle.