Are You Making Valuable Mistakes?

Photo by Fozzman

If you're leading and moving forward, you're not going to get every decision right. 

Fear of making a mistake can paralyze new leaders. One way to overcome this fear is to realize that so called "mistakes" are a huge leadership opportunity.

The important thing is to make your mistakes valuable - to use them for all they're worth:

• Treat new projects as experiments. This gives you and your team room to try and learn without the pressure of perfection.
• When you do experience mistakes, examine the situation for what it has to teach you. 
• What happened that you didn't expect?
• Is it likely to happen again?
• How can you adjust your approach in the future?
• Try not to make the same mistake twice. Your real life experiences are the best leadership text book you'll ever have...but it's up to you to apply the lessons.
• Don't obsess on the past. Rather, focus on what you'll do next time. 
• Try re-framing "mistakes" as learning opportunities. If you honestly did your best to gather relevant information, got your team involved, and moved forward ethically, and it didn't work out - odds are it's not a mistake - it's an opportunity to learn how to be more effective next time!
• If you really did screw up and let down others: Apologize and do what you can to make it right. This doesn't undermine your leadership - you actually improve your leadership credibility and trustworthiness in these situations.

You can't lead without taking risks. 

Make informed, thought-out decisions with your team...but give yourself room to learn everything you can when it doesn't go the way you hope!

Read More:

That Didn't Work Out

Get Out of Your Own Way

Nine Ways to Access the World's Best Leadership Resource!

Four Habits to Make Better Decisions

Six Ways to Not Walk Naked Down the Street

Take care,

David M. Dye

Know someone who would benefit from this post or the entire blog?

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

7 Steps to Make Your Great Ideas Succeed

Photo by nrkbeta

There are more PCs than Macs.

There are more Android phones than iPhones.

Whichever platform you personally prefer, the Apple products have had a major impact regardless of their smaller market share - you don't have to be the biggest or most prolific in order to be successful with a game-changing idea.

You might be frustrated at times when your big idea isn't adopted right away. You know vision and innovation are important, but how do you take those great ideas and give them a chance to become reality? 

Here are 7 steps to make your great ideas succeed:

1) Start small

Pilot everything - try the idea with as small a group as possible. This might be one person...or one team...or one classroom...or one building - whatever the smallest practice unit might be and for which you have responsibility. Start with people who can buy-in to the concept and implement it. Even if that is just you to begin with.

2) Learn from successes and failures

In your pilot effort, note what worked and, most importantly, try to determine why it worked. It's not always what you think. Then look at what didn't work. Can you make corrections?

3) Course correct and try again

Implement your lessons learned from successes and failures and try again...maybe with two or three pilot units. Are things working as you envisioned? If not, continue in steps 1 - 3 until you're comfortable to you can demonstrate results. Invite people, without pressure, to see what you're doing. Start with opinion leaders and those who you know have similar problems.

4) Quantify and qualify results

Take time to demonstrate the impact of your great idea. Tell the human story and show the numbers. For someone who has never thought this way before, what benefits does your idea have? What problems does it solve? In your pilots, you should have obtained some numbers and good stories.

5) Manage up and sideways

If you're a growing leader with great ideas, this might be a challenging step. You want to win support for your concept.

Begin with the values and problems of your coworkers and supervisors. What is important to them - how does your idea reinforce those values? What problems do they have - how does your concept solve their problems?

Note: If your big idea requires that the organization or your supervisors change their values or adopt problems they don't currently see or care about, this step requires a great deal more time and work. Start with education - "Did you know...? How do you feel about...? Have you considered...?" Present challenges and data in terms of their existing values and problems. Being pushy and self-righteous will not help you accomplish your goal.

If your idea is a good one and you can implement it, continue demonstrating the data and results. In time, you will be ready for:

6) Implementation

If your idea is adopted or you get the responsibility to take it further, this is a critical step: don't let a good idea wither by neglecting your "whys" and "whats"!

6a) Why

First, have "why" conversations with those responsible for implementing this idea. They have their own values and their own problems. Why should they care about your great idea? In fact, at this point it's no longer "your" idea - now it's an opportunity for everyone to be [safer / more effective / save money / make money / enjoy work / etc.]

Don't skip this step! Your idea relies on others understanding why they are doing it. People (including you and me) do what we have a personal interest in doing. This is one of the reasons you want to expose people to the idea during the pilots, to build excitement and personal connection.

6b) What

Once the "why" is very clear and people are invested in the solution, then move to the "what" - how to implement the great idea. What knowledge and resources do people need? What skills?

7) Monitor and Feedback
Just as you did during your pilots, keep an eye on what is and is not working. Don't ignore feedback you receive. Something that worked in the pilot might not make sense with a larger implementation. As you monitor and receive feedback, implement what you learn. As needed, revisit "whys" and "whats" - do they still make sense? Make changes as needed.

Size Isn't Everything

I began this post by referencing the smaller market share owned by Apple's computers and phones - your idea doesn't have to be used by everyone to change the world.

Take pride in your ideas and give them a chance to succeed. You might just revolutionize your organization or the world!

You Might Be Interested In:

Lincoln's Rule of Four

Do You Commit These 5 Management Mistakes?

The Garden of Ingenuity

I Looked for the Dry Places

Take care,

David M. Dye

Know someone who would benefit from this post or the entire blog?
Please retweet, like, share, +1, or email it on. Thanks!

Subscribe today or join the discussion at: http://davidmdye.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @davidmdye
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmdye
****
David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

The Only Way to Grow

Photo by Leo Reynolds

Where to Begin?

At some point in their journey, most growing leaders and managers feel overwhelmed. There is so much to learn, so many good ideas, so many areas that need attention...

And only one of you.

Good News

Let's begin with the good news: You can't do it all at once.

So let go of that internal pressure on yourself. There's no sense holding yourself to an impossible standard. Even worse, if you do, you will paralyze yourself or limit your credibility by frantically running around in a vain attempt to be everything simultaneously.

Start Small

Effective leaders and managers manage their own development by focusing on the power of habit.

Our brains aren't able to intensely focus on many different tasks at once. For instance, you are unlikely to succeed in casting vision, creating clear expectations, and encouraging everyone on your team if you are intensely focused on learning and implementing all three.

To overcome this limitation, pick just one thing and practice it regularly until it becomes a habit.

For example: Want to work on encouraging others?  Practice saying thank you and recognizing values-in-action at least three times every day. Once thanking and encouraging others becomes a habit, then you're ready to tackle another item.

It Takes Time

Effective leadership is not built overnight. As we build productive habits we will face challenges that throw us off our game. Be patient with yourself and when you get distracted, go back to your habit - start small and pick one way you can exercise that habit today.

You Can Do This!

Begin small.

Begin today.

You can do this. I know you can.

David M. Dye

Know someone who would benefit from this post or the entire blog?
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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

Four Key Practices for Every Organizational Leader

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If you're leading an organization - whether a team, a company, or a group of volunteers - there are four things the organization requires to be successful. Effective organizational leaders consistently do these four things:

1. Focus on Results

Your organization exists to accomplish something. Organizational leaders keep everyone focused on those results. They will make changes in systems or personnel if either hinder the team's ultimate purpose.

Why does your team exist? What does it accomplish or produce outside of itself?

2. Develop People

People are the most important resource in any organization. Effective organizational leaders devote a significant amount of their time to ensuring people are properly trained, equipped with the resources they need, and matured as leaders.

Do your team members have the skills and resources they need to be effective? Who will carry the team's vision when you are gone? Are they carrying that vision now?

3. Cultivate Values

Every group of people has a culture of how it conducts business, how people treat each other, and how problems are resolved. Values are the foundation of this culture. Too often, values are just words on a wall. Effective organizational leaders consistently model, reinforce, and celebrate organizational values. As a result, they grow an organizational culture.

What are the unwritten rules in your team? How do people treat one another? How are problems resolved?

4. Promote Organizational Learning

Effective organizations regularly evaluate themselves against their environment and their own goals. Organizational leaders promote learning, not just at the individual level, but at the level of the team/organization. Effective leaders do not waste time placing blame for past problems, but continually ask their teams to think about how things can be done more effectively in the future.

How do you institutionalize learning? How does your team discover what worked and why it worked? How do they address future improvements?

More Than the Sum of Its Parts

Organizations are more than just a collection of individuals. They develop a life and energy of their own. As an organizational leader, your role is to actively develop that energy and keep it focused.

Take care,

David M. Dye

Know someone who would benefit from this post or the entire blog?

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****

David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

15 Tips Every New Leader Needs

Photo by cobalt123

If you're new to leadership or a veteran looking to build on a strong foundation, here are 15 tips to get you started. Each of these is something I learned early in life and I hope they are helpful to you on your journey!

1. Your first job is to build your replacement

Leaders invest in others. If your goal is to change the world, you simply can't do it on your own. Leaders build leaders. In addition, you cannot assume more responsibility if you're the only one who can do what you're doing.

2. Never believe your own press release

Success can easily turn sour if you start to assume all the good things you hear about yourself or your organization are automatic...that things will go well because they have in the past. Enjoy accolades when they come, but remember the work it took to get there. That work usually takes place where no one sees it.

3. People don't argue with their own information

It is critical to involve stakeholders in problem solving. We are all more likely to implement solutions into which we've had input.

4. All of us are smarter than one of us...(sometimes)

Crowd-sourcing has demonstrated this one in many ways. No one person has all the answers or knows all the facts. I say (sometimes) because crowds can also make pretty dumb decisions. Your job as a leader is to set clear criteria and a vision of what we can accomplish. Leaders help all of us to be smarter than one of us.

5. The greatest are the least

Humility is fundamental to leadership success. Humility can take many forms, but at its core:

humility says "we are both human beings with value"
humility says "I know enough to know I may be wrong"
humility says "I'm here to help"
humility says "Come and do this with me" not "go do this for me".

People intuitively know if you think you are better or more valuable than they are. No one follows that.

6. We, not I

Leaders say "we", not "I". It's not about you, it's about the team.

7. Bring people with you

Once I was leading a group of fifty or sixty people from outside an arena through doors, around the concourse, and down to a bank of seats on the arena floor. We each put a hand on one another's shoulder and I set off. When I got to the chairs, however, only three people had made it with me. I had gone too fast and the entire team did not arrive. I was a great scout that day - I found the chairs. But leaders take people with them.

8. No responsibility without authority

This one I learned very early in life. I was the oldest of six and was asked to make sure the house was clean by the time my father returned home. I was given responsibility...but I was 12 - not a lot of authority there. Effective leaders try only to take responsibility where they also have or can create authority. Likewise, leaders do not give responsibility without also giving authority to go with it.

9. Say Thank You

No one has to do anything for you.

They choose to.

Acknowledge it!

10. Apologize

When you're wrong, own it, apologize, and make it right.

11. Flowers bloom in their own time

As a child I would be so eager for the first spring roses or peonies to bloom that I sometimes "helped" them along. I would pry open the green leaves covering the blossom and try to coax the interior petals into the semblance of a flower.

Of course it ruined the whole thing.

Flowers bloom when they are ready and you cannot force them. People also have natural seasons and you can frustrate or lose good people by moving too quickly. Sometimes you have to go slow to go fast.

12. Honey, not vinegar

An early leader of mine was fond of saying, "you can catch more flies with a teaspoon of honey than a barrel of vinegar". Generally, encouragement and kindness (honey) are more effective leadership tools for drawing people in and helping them to grow. Criticism and anger (vinegar) are effective for tearing something down.

13. Learn everything you can in the time available

You'll never know everything about anything...but effective leaders use the time available to get as much relevant information as they can before making a decision.

14. Protect people's dignity

Extend worth to everyone. Celebrate their contribution to the world. Do not partake with those who detract from another's dignity.

Even in difficult situations such as ending someone's employment, extend dignity. There is never a reason to belittle or make someone feel small. If you do, you will lose credibility as well as lose the person and their network.

15. Stay healthy

Your health - physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social - is the foundation from which you lead. If you are not leading yourself, you cannot effectively lead others.

Most of these are lifetime practices - some I've made a habit and others I continue to work out each day.

Be patient with yourself and focus on just one thing at a time - don't try to pry open those flower petals!

Take care,

David M. Dye

Know someone who would benefit from this post or the entire blog?

Please retweet, like, share, +1, or email it on. Thanks!

Subscribe today or join the discussion at: http://davidmdye.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @davidmdye

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmdye

****

David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

Lincoln's Rule of Four

Photo by Mushkush

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend four sharpening the axe." - Abraham Lincoln

If you've never had the opportunity to use an axe, it really is much less effort when the blade is sharp. A dull axe results in hours of work and an aching back - if the tree ever does fall down.

Effective leaders and managers understand that they are the axe.

Maintaining your influence and credibility over time require you to take care of yourself - to keep yourself sharp. It is all too easy to neglect self-renewal and learning. Often, we do it to ourselves - in our desire to appear productive to others (or ourself!) we continue whacking away at the tree with a dull blade.

The symptoms of a dull leadership axe can include: you're no longer a half-step ahead of your team, you keep doing the same things, but aren't getting the same results, you're frustrated because your skills aren't sufficient for your vision, you experience extreme fatigue, unusual irritability, anger, depression, rapid weight gain/loss, sleep disruptions, etc.

There are many ways to "sharpen the axe"; here are a sampling:

• Reframe everything on this list as healthy and necessary. In reality, failing to learn is letting our team down. Inadequate sleep is poor leadership.

• Commit to self-learning. Read a book (start with some of my book reviews if you're not sure where to begin), read a magazine, or read a blog.

• Apply what you learn. Once a month, incorporate a specific action from your learning into your life.

• Rest. Our bodies and minds are not made to function continually. We need rest to be our best. For me it's 6.5 - 7 hours per night.

• Exercise. Simple things work wonders - most of us can take a walk and stretch.

• Reflect. If reflection is not a part of your personality, build 30 - 60 minutes a week into your schedule where you can think about what you are doing, what you are learning, and how it works together. Sometimes it helps if you occupy your hands (cooking, knitting, gardening, wood-working, etc.).

• Journal. For many, the act of writing their observations, thoughts, and feelings helps make sense of events and provides insight.

• Work with a mentor. Look for people who have successfully done what it is you are trying to do and regularly buy them lunch or a cup of coffee in exchange for their wisdom.

The goal here is not to simultaneously do everything on this list. What one thing can you begin today that will help restore your mind / soul / spirit? Just focus on that for a month, then come back for another.

How do you keep yourself healthy and effective for your team?

David M. Dye

If you know someone who would benefit from this post or the entire blog, please retweet, like, share, +1, or email it on. Thanks!

Subscribe today or join the discussion at: http://davidmdye.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @davidmdye
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmdye
****
David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

Nine Ways to Access the World's Best Leadership Resource!

Photo by Tela Chhe

Many emerging leaders and managers don't take advantage of one of their best, most effective, and readily available learning resources. Lacking this resource, many never will increase their influence.

Recently, I posted about the vital role a focus on results plays in effective teams. Staying focused on results requires leaders and managers to regularly evaluate both the environment (external conditions) and processes (internal conditions) impacting their teams. This learning is a key responsibility of leaders and managers.

You may have heard the old saying that "leaders are learners". I might modify it slightly in keeping with the theme of this blog: Effective leaders and managers incorporate learning into everything they do.

Even so, ongoing learning is a challenge for many of us. If it is not given regular attention, learning easily takes a back seat to today's urgent issues. It is easy, and sometimes accurate, to claim as so many do - "I don't have time to read or take a class."

I suggest that one way to overcome these obstacles is take advantage of the most effective textbook or classroom you will ever have. The good news is that you have complete and ready access to this resource. This amazing resource?

You.

Or more specifically, your experiences.

Leaders and managers can increase their competence and credibility by intentionally soaking up all the lessons available in their own experiences. There are many ways to do this:

1. With every project or activity your team does, automatically include a review. What worked? What didn't? Do we know why things worked or didn't work? What would we do differently next time? I think of this as institutionalizing learning. Make learning unavoidable!

2. Mentors and coaches. I've never met anyone who couldn't benefit from having one more mentors to help them make sense of their experience. Sometimes the lessons in our life are not immediately obvious to us. So get help!

3. Make it safe for people tell you the truth. I discussed this topic in a 6 Ways Not to Walk Naked Down the Street. Ensure you know the truth.

4. Apply what you learn. Our life is the best laboratory we have. When you learn a new leadership or management concept from a book, a seminar, a blog, your own reflection, or a mentor - apply it! Too often we hear a great concept, put it in our mental "great concept file" and never use it.

5. When you don't know, ask. I frequently observe newer leaders experience a conversation they did not understand, but fail to ask questions because they don't want to "look dumb". Ultimately, we all have to learn. If someone thinks you're dumb for asking questions...they're the one lacking intelligence.

6. Spend time with effective leaders (in real life - not television or movies). If you can, watch them in action. Think about how you would handle the same situation.

7. Make it automatic. Blogs like this one allow you to subscribe via email and automatically receive material you can apply. You look at email every day - does what you're reading have a ready application to a situation in your life?

8. Take time for reflection. Yes, this one includes the word "time". There simply is no way to learn and incorporate knowledge into your mind and habits without giving your body time to absorb it. This is a principle in every area of life.

9. Be patient. Learning takes time. Increasing the pressure on yourself to be "perfect" will only prevent you from learning what life has to teach you here in this moment.

How do you ensure you learn all your own life has to teach you?

David M. Dye

If you know someone who would benefit from this post or the entire blog, please retweet, like, share, +1, or email it on. Thanks!

Subscribe today or join the discussion at: http://davidmdye.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @davidmdye
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmdye
****
David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.

That Didn't Work Out

Photo by Sally Cummings

My wife and I recently sent our daughter off to her second year of college...and her first year living in on her own in an apartment. She texted yesterday to tell me she was baking macaroons for the student group she leads. She wanted to know how I thought they would taste dipped in caramel.

Now, I love macaroons and have been known to bake a few myself. I love them plain and I love them dipped in chocolate. But I've never had them dipped in caramel. I've never even thought to try them in caramel. This is something I respect about our daughter - she's creative and will try all sorts of things I wouldn't dream of - as long as I don't screw it up.

Many leaders and managers, in their desire to be helpful (or show off their vast knowledge) give quick answers when team members ponder "what ifs". When we act as if we must have all the answers, we prevent natural learning from taking place. Real learning grasps the essential elements, it understands "what happens if". It makes new connections, finds new solutions, and creates new visions. Be careful not to squelch creativity and risk-taking by trying to help when exploration is needed.

I got lucky this time and did not rush in with my own opinion about caramel-dipped macaroons. Later that night, I asked how she liked them. "That didn't work out - I prefer them simple."

Nothing I could have said would be as poignant or as lasting. (But I still want to try one!)

David M. Dye

If you know someone who would benefit from this post or the entire blog, please retweet, like, +1, or email it on. Thanks!

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David shares twenty years experience teaching, coaching, leading, and managing in youth service, education advocacy, city governance, and faith-based nonprofits. He currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Colorado UpLift and enjoys helping others discover and realize their own potential.