I recently heard Marc Benioff say that working at Apple changed his career perspective. The great Steve Jobs turned the hot box programming room into an extended organizational culture. Finding “doors” in programming function became a quest for a new frontier. It was no longer about writing better code; it became a mission to change the world through unconventional thinking. The pirate flag went up at Apple headquarters and mission control launched an attack on the industry….to be better by being different. As the aforementioned Salesforce.com CEO’s mentor left the world he had also passed the torch. Greatness is a result of finding new frontiers, not traveling the same road.
Steve Jobs could have done things the easier way: follow the programming skill set laid before him, do it better, and make a bunch of dough. He was not interested in just making money….he wanted to change the world. Top performers share the sentiment that it’s not about what you sell or how you do it…it’s about the influence your job has on the world! Conventional thinking and cookie cutter management will help you sell stuff and may even increase your company’s stock value, but it will not motivate people to change the world. So you say your team just wants to come to work, get it over with, and get on with their lives…? This may be a result of your uninspired management perspective!
Lead Different!
The greatest leaders possess capabilities that no one else is brave enough to display. Great leaders are born but there are a few things we can do to be more like them.
TRUST
You can motivate a basketball team by the bench or the basket. If your players are afraid to be benched they will do just enough to stay in the game. They will pass up the big shot for fear of missing the basket. If you trust your players to take in the skills you have taught and apply them; they will be motivated by results not consequences!
Lack of trust reveals an inability to instill applicable skills. Every Leader would admit they would like their teams to work harder. You cannot force inspiration and task mastering makes management a commodity.
Trust is the most common trait that great leaders possess. In these trying times trust is dwindling. A new frontier of workers is entering the workforce and they left their parent’s house for a reason. Without trust success is impossible.
BELIEVE
Business is built on results so we tend to over-systemize our process. We get in front of a client and tell them what we do and how we do it. The Great Simon Sinek put it most eloquently, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”!
Do you believe in what you do?
If a team comes to realize that their leader does not believe in the cause they represent their day will be filled with a whole lot of “what” and “how”. If you live the mission of your organization you will inspire people to do great things. Proof is a number on a page…..pride is the result of faith in a cause. Inspiring genuine belief starts with proving YOU believe!
CREATE
A lot of industries have one leader and a whole lot of lemmings. There are copy cats everywhere that take a concept created by someone else and replicate it for less money. They play the numbers game and minimize people into numbers: boring, uninspiring, predictable, and easy to replicate.
What do you do that cannot be replicated?
Business is a competition. Those who win often play the game differently.
Our duty as leaders is to find a door where others see a dead end. People are genuinely inspired by things that are created, not replicated. Your creativity is what differentiates you from the herd. Being creative involves risk taking. Creativity is unpredictable. The fear of charting new waters is a one way ticket to Commodity Island.
Are you bold enough to create where others have failed to tread? If not, you may be a manager not a Leader!
Trust, Believe and Creativity may seem like simple concepts. If the aforementioned traits are a no brainer to you then give yourself a gold star for the day. Too often we become complacent…..a record sales year in a tough economy prompts us to believe we have it all figured out. The minute you stop moving forward, you start moving backward.
Your Mission (should you choose to accept it):
- Teach your people how to score instead of intimidating them with the fear of being benched…
- Exemplify what makes your company different and lead the charge!
- Spark a creative process….even if it means interpreting directives to your team in a language that is their own!
Hoist the Pirate Flag!
Lead Different!
– Dave Kovacovich
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