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Powell’s Rules

“Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of  management says is possible.”

- Colin Powell

I have seen Colin Powell’s leadership lessons some time ago, but frankly can’t recall why I never posted them.

Although I think that the “lessons” are insightful and reflect a man who seems to have a very head-on and assertive approach to people and leadership, I actually prefer the shorter “rules” version, which are very compact and directive.

Powell’s Rules

1. It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.
2. Get mad, then get over it.
3. Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.
4. It can be done!
5. Be careful what you choose. You may get it.
6. Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.
7. You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.
8. Check small things.
9. Share credit.
10. Remain calm. Be kind.
11. Have a vision. Be demanding.
12. Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers.
13. Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

Leadership Lessons

PocketMod

Here’s a really useful little tool that just makes your life easy.

The PocketMod is a small book with guides on each page. These guides or templates, combined with a unique folding style, enable a normal piece of paper to become the ultimate note card.

To me it’s also a wonderful example of simplicity in design. Stripping out everything that is non-essential we end up with a product that is simple and that maximizes function. For all productivity buffs and organizational freaks out there, this is something really cool.

Check out the PocketMod site and build your own PocketMod.

Meeting With Self

Just the other day I was talking to a friend and sort of complaining about how I seem to have lost my grip on my calendar… again. This tends to happen from time to time, but this time I was feeling like I couldn’t even find the time to get my ideas in order and have some free, creative thinking time.

Well, my friend just smiled sympathetically.

“Quite common. It happened to me as well.” he said as a matter-of-fact. “What I do is take notes of things that interest me throughout the week. I don’t make any assumptions about the things I note, just try to put them down factually. To go through all those notes, I scheduled a two hour weekly meeting with myself. It’s a recurring appointment and I try to choose a different environment than the office. That way I’m generally not interrupted.”

I didn’t give it much thought then. In fact, two days had gone by before I recalled the conversation and decided to try it.

First thing I did was book a weekly two hour slot in my calendar.

“Let’s see how long I can make this last.” I told myself as I hit the save button.

A few weeks have passed since then and I’ve managed to keep holding my weekly “meeting with self”. I’m also becoming much more proficient in taking (meaningful/useful) notes (mind-maps help a lot) and have already quite a collection of interesting ideas to explore and follow on. Also, some of these ideas have already started to pay off as I’ve been able to incorporate them into some of the projects I’m currently working on.

Designer and creative thinker Stefan Sagmeister also suggests an interesting approach to work-life balance and how to find time for creative thinking. His approach is a bit more radical, but I guess creative types usually are. Stefan’s approach involves taking a year long sabbatical leave to think and try new and different things. During this year, he collects ideas to fuel his work for the next seven years, before taking another leave. You can see Stefan Sagmeister’s talk on The Power Of Time Off in the Videos section.

Having time to think, sort out ideas, throw away those that are not interesting and focus on the ones that are is a precious commodity nowadays. Don’t count on having time “later” to do everything you need to do. Book the time in you calendar. That way everything else just tends to fit together.

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• Stefan Sagmeister
• The Power Of Time Off   

The Science of Motivation

Dan Pink, a former speechwriter for Al Gore, gave this wonderfully insightful talk on the nature and science of workplace motivation at the TED conference this year. During his 18m presentation (a limit set for all talks at the conference), Dan explains both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators and how knowledge workers react to the mainstream reward system in place in most businesses today.

Visionaries

Throughout my career I’ve observed managers and leaders alike. It really doesn’t matter if you’re in a managerial position or not – leaders are not defined by their title, but by their actions. Regardless of being in a managerial position or not, there’s one thing I consistently find in common among leaders. All are able to articulate a simple, compelling view of a possible or hoped-for future outcome – a Vision. Visionary leaders are also able to influence and shape current courses of action so that, eventually, that vision becomes a reality.

My observations and professional experience tell me that the ability to develop and effectively communicate a vision is a fundamental (if somewhat overlooked) leadership skill. A vision statement is a powerful way to galvanize and motivate people around an idea. It provides a beacon and a direction against which we can measure our own ideas, our actions and even our values.

We can develop vision statements to meet any number of different purposes. From an overarching vision for a nation, an industry or an organization to a more specific vision that will provide direction to a department, a team, a product or a project. Even our own careers can benefit from a vision that can help us identify a career path and determine what our next course of action should be.

Authors James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras studied a number of companies whose enduring success have led those organizations to outperform the stock market by a factor of 12 since 1925. In  “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies”, Collins and Porras conclude that all these organizations have a core set of values that remain unchanged even when faced with drastic changes to business strategies or market conditions. Although the authors state that the book “is not […] about charismatic visionary leaders”, most (if not all) of the companies seem to have had their core values imbued into the company’s Vision by one such visionary (if not also charismatic) leader.

Looking into the future and imagining what you or your organization might become is an extraordinary exercise. Just make sure to aim high and far. Be bold. Be grand. I think that true visions should not be modest in any way, shape or form.

 

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you fail, you’ll still land among the stars.”

- Les Brown

 

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References

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies Author(s): Jim Collins, Jerry Porras