Leadership

Much of leadership content these days is about hustling, doing more with less, increasing productivity in general, and on and on and on. There is even discussion about “side hustles,” “plus time,” or “google time.”

The reality, however, is that no one can do everything.

Conversely, have you noticed that there is a natural rhythm to life? Day becomes night, summer turns to fall, fall turns to winter, and eventually —eventually? —winter gives way again to the rebirth of spring. What’s true in nature is also true in human beings. Human beings develop, grow, age, and eventually pass away.

Limits are part of life.

This probably won’t be one of the most popular posts I have written because limits remind us of our fallibility. We, unlike God, cannot go on without limits because we are human. We get tired, are mistake prone, and have a host of other issues when we push past natural limits. This is why we need to embrace limits for our own health, and the health of our organization.

I have come to realize that my lack of respect for limits is due to my distrust of God’s goodness and provision. If I am not chasing “more,” regardless of what “more” is (work, leadership, parenting, etc.), I feel like a failure. So, I am tempted, and often give in-to the temptation of, blowing off the natural limits set before me. This means I work extended hours, blow the Sabbath off, and suffer health issues because of all this. But “more” is never “enough.”

More problematic to my leadership —and being someone, WORTH following (my emphasis) —I become short with people, and even unloving when I blow past limits. If leadership is awakening the possibility in OTHERS (my emphasis again) than my leadership suffers when my refusal to embrace limits impacts how I treat others. To that end, I have been asking myself lately whether my demeanor, attitude, and attentiveness to other people is characteristic of someone I would want to follow? While this may sound like a lot, remember that leadership is always a privilege and it always comes with a cost. Leaders should be held MORE, not less, accountable for their actions. And we should also be more focused on other people than we are on ourselves.

This brings me back to the statement two paragraphs above about my lack of respect for limits being tied to my distrust of God’s goodness and provision. Regardless of your belief in God, the lack of adherence to limits points to something deeper happening inside the heart of an individual. Could it be that you, the leader, are blowing past natural limits by working more hours, more days, absorbing more content, and overall doing more simply because something inside you is not content? Is it that enough is simply not enough?

While I cannot speak for you, the truth about me is that I blow past limits because I have low self-esteem and am an “achieve-a-holic.” I distrust a loving Father who assures me that he will provide what I need when I need it. Notice that this does not mean my wildest dreams will come true. I may never shoot under par consistently, write the New York Times’ Best-Selling Book, or have a hair like Brian Urlacher (just kidding, I want to stay bald). It also might mean that I am unrecognizable in the injection molding space, our business is good but not great, and I am largely forgotten in fifty years.

The contemporary advice continues to be “blow past limits” so that you assure the things mentioned in the last sentence are not true of you.

Limits, however, are necessary because blowing past those limits, as good as your intentions may be, eventually cause irreparable damage to you, others, and especially those you love most (family and friends).

It simply is not worth the cost.

Hence, I am embracing limits, embracing less, and letting the chips fall where they may.

I am also increasing my trust in God and his provision.

Even if that last statement does not jive with you, I am imploring you to consider the natural limits in your own life and leadership.

My conclusion for this post is that in order for you to be someone WORTH following, you need to embrace limits so that you have the emotional health to positively impact the lives of other human-beings. Leadership is always about doing this work, the work of enhancing lives of OTHERS.

We can only do this through the embracing of our natural limits.

On January 1 of this year our father moved into a new role as Chairman of the Board. This meant that he had to pick one of his three kids to run the business. Except that is not how it went down. Instead, the three of us spent the last few years growing our work relationships and determining how WE were going to run the business together. As unconventional as this sounds, it was brilliant in hindsight because it forced the three of us to learn how to relate to one another in the most difficult of subject matters: who is going to run the business?

We came up with an unconventional model of shared leadership. One sister would be Chief Financial Officer, one Chief Cultural Officer, and I would be Chief Revenue Officer. We then named 10 other people chiefs and Vice Presidents – of course I am kidding but we got really tired of the title game. In fact, after several meetings we decided that the only thing that really mattered was running the business well without jeopardizing our relationships.

Remember how I said above that talking about succession was the “most difficult of subject matters?” I was SO WRONG.

COVID-19 had the audacity to come to town less than 90 days into our new structure. It did not RSVP. Nor, did it send an “outlook” calendar invite to ZOOM. It just showed up unannounced. When crisis hits, we were previously asked when planning our new structure, who would make the decisions if you don’t have a President? The rest of this post shares how we are navigating this reality. I would be remiss not to say that I am writing this on April 8, 2020. In other words, we are closer to the beginning of the challenge than we are to the end.

One last note to leaders in more “traditional” workplace hierarchies: Everything I share below is applicable to leadership because leaders are those worth following. They are not dictators. People want to follow those that are humble and willing to change.

Without further ado, here are 4 key things my sisters and I are doing to work through this crisis:

1. We listen. Listening is hearing the entirety of the other person’s point of view. It is openness to changing your perspective because of it. For example, I wrote a memo last week to the company that both my sisters thought needed some editing. My intention in the memo was to lead boldly. They both said the wording was too bold however. My choices were to insist on “my way,” or listen to their counsel. Reading what I wrote I could see their point. While I was attempting to be candid and honest, I was sharing too much. By softening the tone of the letter, it was received with positive feedback from the organization.
2. We communicate in person or ZOOM daily. In times of crisis people are obviously very stressed. Higher stress should equal more frequent in-person meetings to ensure everyone is on the same page. Being able to see and hear the person simultaneously protects one from misinterpreting tone. My sisters and I have used this time to ensure relational harmony and make decisions together. To date we have yet to get to the point where one of them has me in a headlock and the other is tickling me like they did in 1980 something…
3. We assume the best in each other. High stress also equals higher chances to say something that ticks someone off. Remember that time your sister or brother said something during the holidays that made you sneak sip some beverage of choice? COVID-19 is WAY MORE STRESSFUL than the holidays! So, considering my sisters and I work together, we are assuming the best and apologizing if we must.
4. We are attempting to laugh and have fun when we can. Laughter is a healthy coping mechanism for stress. Let’s face it, there is not much to laugh at these days. So, attempting to laugh can mean entertaining the silly in the pursuit of a momentary diversion from the crisis. Some examples include MEMES about Joe Exotic and YouTube videos about ZOOM, etc.

I would imagine that 99% of readers do not work with siblings. That said, these ideas: listening, communicating daily, assuming the best in one another, and laughing together, can be applied to ANY Executive team.

They also can apply to your next holiday gathering.

One of my concerns as a father is how much our children tie performance to the love Sarah and I have for them. For instance, do we still love them when they strike out in little league? Or do we love them when their teacher points out a flaw in their school work? Of course the answer is a resounding YES, but do they understand and accept this?

The boys are currently eight and six respectively, so part of our almost-nightly winter routine is a fun game of floor hockey in our unfinished basement (in the summer it is whiffle ball outside!). In our games I have observed both boys seeking my approval when they make a good play. I have also noticed them sulking when they miss out on a play. They are competitive and work hard to beat me, but I don’t let them win —although I do let the six year old have some “freebies” when he needs some encouragement. My goal has been to drive home the reality than in sports and life you win and lose.

Because of this, winning has become a big deal to them when it happens. It has also come at a cost. For neither of them naturally handle losing well —yet. While this may be somewhat of a good thing —it produces a competitive spirit in them to get better and improve —it also is something that, as their dad, I need to help them learn to do well because life involves losing. In fact, as I have come to learn myself the hard way, basing one’s worth on performance is foolhardy because the moments of triumph are much less frequent than the moments of losing.

This is obviously hard for young kids to understand. If I am honest, it can also be hard for me to understand.

The combination of the boys looking for my approval when making good plays, and them sulking when losing, led me to create some controllable performance metrics to ingrain in them. I told them that these three things (I did not call them metrics!) were what matter to me. I share here because I think they are worth our — grown up business leaders — consideration. They are:

Safety

Effort

Fun

I explained to the boys that every sport they play needs to involve safety. Thinking from an organizational leadership perspective, I started here because safety has to be present for people to thrive. This is true in T-ball and what we do at Hoffer Plastics. Safety is paramount, and I want this to take root in them.

Effort comes next because it is the only controllable aspect of performance. Results are always a lagging measure. My belief is that they often do come when effort is there. Of course, they might not come on our preferred timeline (see my golf game), but they often do come.

I am driving the idea of effort into our boys because their default is to view my love in a positive outcome rather than in the effort. To drive this home, I have asked them if I would be mad if they struck out 3 times during a baseball game this spring, to which they both said “no,” as long as they were trying their best. Conversely, would I be upset if they got a big hit and didn’t run their hardest to first base? ”No,” our oldest chimed in. I then corrected this assumption to drive in the point that effort means running hard all the time. I could tell that this was surprising to him because he wants the big hit —don’t we all? Yet, this is the key distinction: effort > outcome.

Finally, life is short, and we need to make the best of it by having fun. This is true both in little league AND business. Yes, business! Fun involves having a positive attitude, being a good sport, and encouraging others. I also believe it comes in sequential order: Safety, Effort, and then fun because how can things be fun when we are not safe and/or trying our best? Fun also means laughing at our mistakes and picking others up when they make theirs. And in the context of youth sports, it means that if it is not fun, our family is not participating (Note to parents, I am driving this home to our kids because there is so much more to life than youth sports. I don’t care that “everyone else” is doing it. We are having fun, or not playing. Period).

I share these —safe, effort, and fun— because they are useful reminders to us leaders. For in order to be someone worth following we need to create environments where effort is the primary currency, and fun is a natural outcome of hard work cultivated in a safe working environment.

I recently heard Jerry Hurley say that at his organization trust is given, but it can be lost. This is 180 degrees reverse of the usual platitude that “trust is earned, never given.”

From an organizational health perspective, this is a game-changer. If trust is given, the potential implications can be staggering:

– The tone of every email is read differently

– The person leaving early, or arriving late, is assumed to have a really good reason for doing so

– The new policy that sounds vindictive was not intended to be

And on and on…

We live in a grudge-oriented world, where heart disease is once again on the rise, and the overall health of Americans is in decline.

Giving people the benefit of the doubt won’t fix these problems. But, why not assume the best until assuming the best no longer makes sense?

As far as trust goes, it is not earned.

Trust is rather a gift one gives to another, who in turn gives it back to the other person. It is a mutual covenant built on reciprocity, assurance, and predictability. Reliability is what is earned. But it starts with the gift.

Let’s extend that gift to our team-members.

Check out my YouTube channel for a daily, Christ-centered, check-in that offer #leadership insight, #encouragement for the day, and a reason for #hope. Or, just check out today’s video here.

September 19, 1796:

Friends and Fellow Citizens:

The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made…

So begins George Washington’s “farewell address” to the new Republic. He goes on to urge Americans to avoid “excessive political party spirit” and “geographical distinctions.” Thank goodness we have mastered these since President Washington left office…

Seriously, on this President’s Day I am contemplating the humility of George Washington. Some historians have argued that he could have been King. Perhaps, perhaps not.

What is worth noting, what is even worth celebrating, however, is that George Washington DID step down.

This remarkable occurrence led to John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and on and on and on. (If you haven’t read a good book about these two you are simply missing out!)

The lesson for us:

To be someone worth following, you need to remember that you are not invincible. At some point down the road, someone will replace you. So, set them up for success. And always remember that If George Washington was replaceable, so are you!

Thank God for a Republic that models self-restraint.

May our organizations do the same.

Special note to Subscribers: Later this week I am going to send out a post on health (personal and organizational). It is a simple post with one key action. In other words, do this – the key action – so that you can do that – lead – well! I’ll post Wednesday or Thursday. If you haven’t already subscribed, please do. My goal is to have more communication with people that actually read the blog to understand what is helpful, and what it is not. The goal is for this blog to be helpful, obviously.

I recently promoted someone on our team to becoming the new Vice President of Sales. What this means for me personally is that I am no longer going to be as active in the day-to-day activities of the sales team. Because of this new reality, here are three shareable leadership ideas – as it relates to passing on leadership to others – that I have been contemplating lately.

First, “the job of leadership is to awaken the possibility in others,” says Benjamin Zander, the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. In the vernacular of B.I.B., to be someone worth following you have to be someone that allows others to lead. The sign of a good Dictator is the lack of upward mobility and social unrest. The sign of a good leader, however, is a thriving team after the new person takes charge. Things should get better, not worse, for possibility has been awoken.

Secondly, as John the Baptist said about Jesus, “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30). In other words, egotism must be set aside. This is infuriatingly difficult for type A, self-starting, entrepreneurially-minded leaders. But to be someone worth following you need to become less so others can become more. The irony here is that we celebrate and applaud when Steve Jobs comes back to save Apple (1996), and when Howard Schultz comes back to save Starbucks in 2008– praise the Lord, we had our first kid in 2011. Did you know that Starbucks stock was trading at $19.12 at Will’s birth and now trades over $90 per share? Coincidence, I don’t think so! — But wouldn’t those stories have been even cooler if someone else on their teams had stepped up? Someone they had groomed? Obviously, Apple has more than survived Steve’s untimely passing, but aren’t they largely still selling updated versions of the products he, and others, created?

Finally, the name of this post comes from a song on my 2020 Spotify playlist (Background, by Lecrae). Admittedly, I am not a huge rap/hip hop fan —an admission that probably does not surprises my audience, I know. But Lecrae’s lyrics always challenge me to walk more closely with my Savior. So, while I will quote some lyrics to close this post on leadership, keep in mind that the context Lecrae is referring to while reading them (his relationship to God). In my life, these words have dual meaning:

Selected lyrics (click here for all)

I could play the background…

‘Cause I know sometimes I get in the way.

So won’t you take the lead, lead, lead?

Its evident that you run the show, so let me back down

You take the leading role, and I’ll play the background

I don’t need my name in lights, (Aye) I don’t need a staring role

Why gain the whole wide world, if I’m just going lose my soul.

Praying the whole world would start embracing stage freight

So let me fall back, stop giving my suggestions

‘Cause when I follow my obsessions, I end up confessing

That’s I’m not that impressive, matter of fact

I’m who I are, a trail of stardust leading to the superstar…

The day after noticing that one of our plants had too many parts on the floor, and mentioning that observation to our plant managers, I saw an entirely changed environment. The plants were organized, the parts were contained, and things were back to normal.

One plant in particular had made significant progress. So, I decided to write them a private note explaining how much their effort meant to me. I also explained why the parts on the floor were so bothersome to me; that while it may sound incredibly crazy to others, but to me I saw some of person x’s healthcare on the floor, person y’s bonus, and all of our ability to invest in future machines, infrastructure, and everything else, on the floor. It simply is more than a plastic part, and even if was just that, that would be enough because plastic waste is a serious issue this day and age (I am not being glib, it REALLY is an important issue). I ended the email telling this team how amazing they are for taking just quick action.

I did not think much of the email after I hit send, until the Plant Manager pulled me aside the following morning. “Your email changed the entire tone of the plant this morning. Three people came up to me and asked if I saw Alex’s email.”

I know this puts me in a positive light, but that is not my intent. My intent is to share the realization that my words, a leader’s words, whether written or spoken, are dissected, internalized, and digested by everyone they impact. This means that as leaders we cannot be callous. Further, we cannot just point out what is wrong. We have to look for, and talk about, what is going right. This is so basic, easy to understand, and yet, hard to do because the subconscious works against us sharing something that feels like juvenile behavior affirmation (“good job class!”). Yet, what others hear is validation for their work, and even therapy for their soul, because they know what they are doing is having an impact.

This is also why adults can remember the exact hurtful words said to them decades ago, and also have affection for grade school teachers whose names they may not even remember.

Words simply matter that much.

Use them wisely.