The Four Factors of Effective Leadership

Pursuing Perfection

Last month I did two days of training on The Four Factors of Effective Leadership for a great group of emergency service personnel (firefighters, paramedics, hospital staff, etc.) in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

One of the four factors is improvement, which emphasizes the importance of continuous learning, growth and development. Following the seminar, I had an interesting conversation with Sonny Robbins. During the day, he developed this quote and shared it with me. I thought it was very insightful and wanted to pass it along.

"Striving for perfection is good, but achieving perfection is impossible. Knowing where to draw the line is the difference between success and insanity. Strive for perfection and do your best to achieve your goals and you will be successful."

I think he's encouraging an important balance between a paralyzing desire for perfection and a careless attitude toward the work we do. Great reminder.

Lifelong learning leads to a long life

A recent Men's Health article discussed why wealthy people are often healthier than their financially challenged counterparts. It includes a number of suggestions for achieving health, even if you don't have the wealth.

#7. Go Back to School

"The most important predictor of health is your education."

In a recent study, "each and every step up the educational ladder conferred added longevity."

"More education gives you more control over your life. And more control means less stress. So stop watching Law & Order reruns and start thinking about going to night school and earning your law degree."

Apparently, lifelong learning doesn't just help you lead better, it also helps you to live and lead longer. 

How to Enroll in Automobile University

The Fourth Factor of effective leadership is Improvement. Leaders must be learning and growing as individuals and developing those around them.

One great way to keep learning is to enroll in Automobile University. I first heard this term while listening, appropriately, to an audiobook by Zig Ziglar. It is simple to register for Auto U, just get an audiobook from your local library or bookstore or Itunes or Audible.com (my favorite source).

I recently listened to Microtrends, by Mark Penn. One of the trends he describes is extreme commuters, those that drive more than 375 miles to work and back each day. If you are one of these people, you should definitely register for classes today.

If you are looking for good business books available on audio, check out The Audio Advantage by Roy over at 800-CEO-Read. He lists popular business and leadership books that are available in audio format.

Watch Me!

During a recent trip to the pool with my three daughters, I noticed something. When I'm with my girls, there is one phrase that I hear more than any other.

"Watch me! Watch me! Watch me! Did you see me? Daddy, watch me! Daddy! Did you see? Watch me!"

They're often saying it all at the same time and doing different things in different places. Sometimes it bothers me. I want to say "I am watching. I did see. Quiet down!"

But then I realize there is an important lesson here. A lesson that will make us better parents, better husbands and wives, better leaders.

The lesson is this . . . everyone wants to be the focus of someone's attention. Everyone wants to be seen, to be recognized, to be acknowledged, to be noticed. Whether we say it out loud or not, we all want the same thing. We want our boss to watch us doing a good job. We want our spouse to watch us helping out. We want our kids to watch us put them first.

If we want to be effective leaders, if we want to build positive and enduring relationships, we need to be watching, acknowledging, noticing and recognizing other people all the time.

When we watch, when we focus, when we pay attention, we send a powerful message to the other person. We are telling them that no one is more important at that moment, nothing is more worthy of our attention. We are telling them that they are valuable, important and worthwhile.

"Watch me!" It might not seem like much, but there isn't anything more valuable you can do for the people in your life.   

How to read a business book

As I've discussed on my Freak Factor blog, I'm a reading freak. I love to read anything, including packages of sugar and Hardee's Thickburger bags. I like to read so much that I once read a book called How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren.

That is why I was so pleased to discover a recent post by Seth Godin about how to read a business book. One of the best ways to grow, to develop yourself and improve your leadership, is by reading. Godin's suggestions will help you get more out of what you read and will probably change your perspective on reading as well.

He makes two crucial points. First, books don't change your life. Applying what you've learned changes your life. Action is what matters. Are you doing anything about what you are reading?

Second, it's not about you. The most important part of learning is sharing what you've discovered with someone else. This is exactly what I suggested in the fourth factor of effective leadership, Improvement. Successful leaders are learners but it doesn't stop there. They learn and then teach others.

As Guy Kawasaki says, you need to "eat like a bird and poop like an elephant." Birds are voracious eaters just as we should be voracious readers. Elephants are unparalleled poopers and also enjoy spreading it around. Similarly, we should take what we have learned and spread it around.  

Who's helping you?

The fourth factor of effective leadership is improvement, which includes personal development. One development strategy that I recommend is to find a mentor. Penelope Trunk, author of Brazen Careerist, has some good suggestions about how to find a good mentor.

I've had two mentors in my life. The first was Elliott Anderson, who gave me the "Freak" nickname and found the strengths hidden inside of my weaknesses. The second is Tom Morris, who very recently volunteered to help me with my speaking and writing career.

It is impossible to quantify the value of a good mentor. I've been incredibly blessed by both of these men and definitely recommend that you let Penelope help you discover this life changing experience for yourself.

WTF (What the Freak) is Johnny Bunko? Part 3

If you missed the first two installments, here are the links to Part 1 and Part 2.

As a follow-up to Factor 4, Improvement, I did a seminar called GROW! Ten Strategies for Maximizing Your Leadership Potential, which has become one of the bestselling business DVDs on Amazon.com. You can watch a brief video clip here.

One of the ten strategies is "try to fail." I encourage people to take risks, to push the boundaries of their competence, to recognize that growth requires change and the risk of failure. This message is consistent with the fifth lesson from Johnny Bunko.

Lesson #5: Make excellent mistakes.

Diana, Johnny's career advisor, puts it this way. "Too many people spend their time avoiding mistakes. They're so concerned about being wrong, about messing up, that they never try anything -- which means they never do anything. . . The most successful people make spectacular mistakes." (You need to read the book to learn about the difference between stupid mistakes and spectacular ones).

Have you tried to fail lately? Have you purposefully attempted something that had a high potential for failure? As my friend Mike reminds us, great rewards often involve great risks.

I love it when one of my friends, who has listened to GROW! tells me that they are "trying to fail." My friend Stosh does this the most often (trying to fail, not failing). It has become a shorthand way for us to tell the other person that we are trying to grow, trying to succeed, taking a chance, pushing the limits, by trying to fail.

I used to measure my life by my successes. Now I look at how many times I've tried to do something big, even when I couldn't guarantee success. That list is getting pretty long, but I'm not ashamed. I'm proud that I am testing the limits of my abilities. Here is a short list of my recent failures.

• Failing to get an agent for my Freak Factor book (20 rejections and counting)
• Not getting hired to do a large conference presentation for Johnson & Johnson
• Missing my time goal for a 50 kilometer run
• Having my proposal rejected for another major conference

Do you have a list? Are you trying to fail? I'd encourage you to take Dan's advice and "make excellent mistakes."

WTF (What the Freak) is Johnny Bunko? Part 2

I just finished reading Johnny Bunko, the latest book by Dan Pink. If you want a great (and funny) overview of the book, you can watch this video trailer or check out 23 sample pages.

The book is the story of Johnny Bunko, a struggling cubicle dweller, written in manga, a type of Japanese comic book, and offers six lessons for career success. Below is a review of two lessons that fit with the Four Factors. I review two other lessons in Part 1 on The Freak Factor blog.

Lesson #3: It's not about you.

This lesson seemed to contradict the previous lesson, "think strengths not weaknesses." However, Pink was talking about the purpose for which you use your strengths. Johnny's career advisor, Diana, explains that "the most successful people improve their own lives by improving others' lives . . . The most valuable people in any job bring out the best in others."

This is consistent with Factor 4, Improvement, which focuses on developing others.

Lesson #6: Leave an imprint.

In this final lesson, Diana encourages Johnny to consider these questions. "Did I make a difference? Did I contribute somthing? Did my being here matter?" She reminds him that "life isn't infinite . . . you should use your limited time here to do something that matters." Amen.

I conclude the Four Factors with a chapter called Impact. It includes the following definition, "Leadership is a relationship that produces positive change in yourself, in the lives of others and in the world." Dan said it in less words. Leave an imprint.

Audio University

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever." - Gandhi

The fourth factor of effective leadership is improvement, which includes learning and personal development. One practical way to become a constant learner is to enroll in Audio University, a modification of Zig Ziglar's Automobile University. As Zig explained, our time in the car is a great opportunity for growth. He suggested listening to tapes behind the wheel and, although tapes are almost obsolete, the idea is more relevant than ever.

Fortunately, Itunes and Audible.com make it easier than ever to take an audiobook with you wherever you go. I like to listen while running and driving.

Unfortunately, many books are still not available in audio format. However, Roy at 800-CEO-Read is on the case. He searches out the best business books available for your listening pleasure and posts them on the 8CR blog. His most recent post has some good recommendations, including some of my favorites:

• Made to Stick
• What Got You Here Won't Get You There
• The Speed of Trust
• Meatball Sundae

If you want to lead, you need to learn. Given the time constraints that most of us face, audiobooks are a great way to learn on the go.