CEO Success Report -
May 2004
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CEO Success Report
- May 2004
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Increasing the Effectiveness and Enhancing the Lives of CEOs
and business owners.
Contents of this issue...
.. Welcome - A few words from the publisher, Gary Lockwood
.. Thought-Starter - "It's all in your HEAD!"
.. Guest article - "Order Through Chaos"
.. CEO Resources
.. Quotes to use in your staff meeting this month
.. Humor to lighten up the executive suite
.. Contact the publisher
.. Subscribe and unsubscribe instructions
See past issues of the CEO Success Report at:
http://www.CEOSuccess.com/archives
===================================================
WELCOME to this issue of the CEO Success Report!
===================================================
Hello again. I'm Gary Lockwood, President of CEO Success.
Welcome back once again to the CEO Success. I know you have
no shortage of material to read and I thank you for choosing to
read our newsletter.
We work hard to provide practical ideas, thought-provoking concepts
and useful information for you.
You (and over 1000 of your CEO peers), have honored me by
being a loyal subscriber. For that, I appreciate you.
Having a positive attitude toward your business and toward life in
general may be one of the most important characteristics of
successful people.
In my years as a Business Coach, I have observed many successful
entrepreneurs. With very few exceptions, those who are successful
and happy have developed and maintained a positive outlook.
A positive attitude is not ACCIDENTAL.
Successful entrepreneurs know how to create a positive attitude
and positive motivation for themselves. My Thought-Starter for
today shows you how to do this for yourself.
May I ask a small favor? Please forward this issue to other CEOs
and company presidents who may be interested in receiving
these messages. Thank you.
And now for our guest article this month.
Organizations must become more adaptive and creative. It's hard to
argue with that statement as we look at the forces impacting
organizations today. But becoming more adaptive and innovative
requires fundamentally new ways of seeing and engaging the world, not
merely applying the latest improvement model.
This is how our guest author this month, Lawrence E. Wharton, begins
his fascinating article on the paradox of having order though chaos.
Read more about Lawrence at the end of his article.
I hope you enjoy receiving these articles and ideas to
help you sharpen your thinking about being an effective CEO.
My wish is that you use the ideas in the CEO Success Report to
get the results you really want. If you want some help in putting
them into practice, or if you have questions, email or call.
As you know, our specialty is Increasing the Effectiveness
and Enhancing the Lives of CEOs and business owners.
Enjoy this issue with my compliments.
Sincerely,
Gary Lockwood
CEO Success
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This month's THOUGHT-STARTER
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It's all in your HEAD!
by Gary Lockwood
"A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances,
but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes. - Hugh Downs
Having a positive attitude toward your business and toward life
in general may be one of the most important characteristics of
successful people.
In my years as a Business Coach, I have observed many successful
entrepreneurs. With very few exceptions, those who are successful
and happy have developed and maintained a positive outlook.
A positive attitude is not ACCIDENTAL.
Successful entrepreneurs know how to create a positive attitude
and positive motivation for themselves. They don't just wait for it
to happen. That would be like wanting a drink of milk, then sitting
in a pasture, waiting for a cow to back up to you.
By the way, having a positive attitude is not the same as blind
optimism. I am not suggesting that you ignore the challenges in
your life. I AM suggesting that you just not dwell there.
What do SUCCESSFUL entrepreneurs do to develop and maintain
their positive attitude?
First, they know what's important. They have carefully determined
what counts in their business and personal life. Highly successful
people have clearly articulated values for their business in the
areas of:
** Customer service,
** Employee relationships,
** Cash flow,
** Productivity,
** Image and
** Growth.
Why is this significant?
The past few decades have seen enormous and accelerating
changes in technology and social structure, in geopolitics and
especially in the organizations in which we work. The pace of
change is staggering and daunting. The mass of information
available to humankind is doubling every 18 months. You make
up to 1000 decisions per day. The time-to-market for new products
and services is dropping fast.
This is truly "Life in the Fast Lane".
In the midst of all this turmoil, you can't do everything. Focus on
a few things that you can do well. Someone once asked the great
football coach, Vince Lombardi, to describe his offensive strategy.
He said, "to knock down all the opposing players". When asked
about his defensive strategy, he said, "to knock down all the
opposing players". Lombardi said, "If we do those two things well,
all our other plans fall into place.
Knowing that you are working on the RIGHT THINGS is a great
boost to your positive attitude.
In times of great change and ambiguity, how do you stay focused on
the right things, unless you know what are the right things for you?
Your business values help guide you. Clarify the areas of doing
business that are seriously important to you.
Another way that successful entrepreneurs maintain their positive
attitude is they talk to themselves. The things you say to yourself
influence your feelings, your attitude and your behavior.
Once, there were two shoe salesmen sent to a faraway land to sell
shoes. After the first day, one sent back a telegram saying, "This
place is a disaster! No one wears shoes!" The other salesperson
also sent a telegram. His message was " This place is a gold mine!
No one wears shoes!"
Being aware of what you say to yourself inside your head (self-talk)
helps you adjust your attitude.
Many people beat themselves up when things go awry. When you
berate yourself and tell yourself that you are "stupid" or
"useless"
or "an idiot", naturally you begin to feel negative about yourself,
your business, the people around you and even life itself.
Mistakes are the fuel of creativity. Everyone makes mistakes.
Smart entrepreneurs LEARN from their mistakes and move on.
Try positive affirmations in place of negative self-talk. When things
get a little tense, just say to yourself:
"I can do this" or,
"We'll find a way to make this work" or
"Let's concentrate on a solution, not who caused
the problem".
Successful entrepreneurs keep their positive attitude by being
careful about the people they hang out with. There are always
others who will readily tell you that "it can't be done" and "
you'll
never make it".
Surround yourself with supporters.
Good supporters will help you work on contingency plans and
help you work around challenges without pounding you with
discouragement. Avoid the "ain't-it-awful" club.
Every weekday afternoon in America, between the hours of 4:00pm
and 7:00pm, there are people sitting around bars and lounges
talking about how bad the world is. They bemoan the economy,
the competition, the government, the company, the weather, blah,
blah, blah. And they call this "HAPPY HOUR!" Don't join the "pity
party".
Successful entrepreneurs also develop their positive attitudes
because they feed on progress. At the end of each day, instead
of recounting all the difficulties and all that remains undone, write
your accomplishments.
End each day on a positive note by jotting down the THREE BEST
THINGS that happened this day.
Often, there is no one around to acknowledge your achievements,
especially those little ones that happen in the course of the day.
By focusing a few minutes on your accomplishments, you give
yourself a little pat on the back and recognize progress, even when
small.
Successful entrepreneurs take charge of the quality of their lives.
A recent study showed only 4% of people enjoy both their work life
and personal life. Many people have made financial objectives their
sole concern and have paid a heavy price for their success, such as:
* Poor health,
* Failed marriage,
* Neglected family and friends,
* No personal development.
Financial success, no matter how great, can never compensate for
poor quality of life. A properly functioning business is supposed
to serve a full and satisfying life that includes:
Excellent health,
Close and loving relationships,
Enjoyable recreation,
Stimulating culture, and
A powerful contribution to the community.
The successful entrepreneur has a multi-dimensional personal life.
How?
The solution is to take time away from your business. Free time
makes you sharper. Free time revitalizes you, restores your
confidence and heightens your sense of well-being. You come
back from time off with new perspectives, more energy, increased
creativity, and often, a breakthrough idea.
When you get busy or when business gets tough, it's easy to let your
attitude slip. Yet, this is when you most need your positive attitude.
Your attitude influences your actions. When you really need positive
action, remember, "It's all in your head".
Enjoy the journey!
C Copyright 2001-2004 BizSuccess All rights reserved. No duplication
About the Author...
Gary Lockwood is Increasing the Effectiveness and Enhancing the
Lives of CEOs, business owners and professionals.
Email: mailto:Gary@CEOSuccess.com
Web: http://www.CEOSuccess.com
==================================
Guest Article
==================================
Order Through Chaos
by Lawrence E. Wharton
Organizations must become more adaptive and creative. It's hard to
argue with that statement as we look at the forces impacting
organizations today. But becoming more adaptive and innovative
requires fundamentally new ways of seeing and engaging the world, not
merely applying the latest improvement model.
Perhaps the most critical and difficult part of any effort to improve
adaptability is the need for the organization to have the
simultaneous presence of balancing and growth systems, of stable and
chaotic conditions all at once. It is important to keep in mind that
in using the word chaos (or chaotic) we are not talking about the
everyday definition, which conjures images of things falling apart
and being in total disarray-usually a fairly bad thing. We are using
chaos more in the scientific vein, which describes unstable
conditions but with an underlying, integrating order.
A number of authors have spoken about the need to be at the "edge of
chaos," where things are just about to fall apart but don't. This
really is the zone of highest adaptability and creativity. But
helping leaders understand what it looks like and how to bring it
about is sadly neglected. Leaders are told how important it is to
find this edge of chaos, but little is provided in the way of useful
information about the methods or approaches. A deep inhibitor of
creative and adaptive responses is a serious misunderstanding of the
nature of paradox, particularly dealing with chaotic conditions.
Let's consider the nature of this paradox, of things being chaotic
and stable at the same time. The simultaneous presence of apparent
opposites is disturbing for many managers, who see paradox as
something to be avoided and, in the end, to be "resolved" or
eliminated. Resolution means accepting one side of the paradox and
discarding the other, as in "we're either team-oriented or
individual-oriented." But paradoxes don't simply arise; they are
created by us through our framing of issues or problems. In fact,
what appear to be irreconcilable opposites are in fact very often two
critical aspects of the same underlying truth or picture.
Any organization, public or private, must provide goods or services
as customers desire, without defect and on time. Employees want a
stable payroll system, not one in which they may or may not get the
right paycheck or even one at all. And certainly lenders want prompt
payment of debts. These examples clearly require stability, with
little or no variation from an ideal state. Statistical Process
Control (SPC) and Process Redesign are examples of tools used
successfully to reduce variation and maintain stability. There are
many needed stability-seeking systems within every organization,
regardless of size or industry.
At the same time, the organization needs to think about growth,
innovation, improved productivity and operations, greater
adaptability, and a host of other issues not served well by stability,
which emphasizes keeping things on an even keel. In fact, improving
how you do things is antithetical to stability. The introduction of
conditions in which growth or improvements can occur requires
acceptance of disorder, at least temporarily.
Consider learning to ride a bicycle when all you are used to is a
tricycle. The idea is to grow to the next level of transportation
effectiveness. New information in the form of the bicycle challenges
the existing method of transportation and puts the child at a
temporary disadvantage, as she spends much of her time falling down,
being literally off balance, in a state of disequilibrium or disorder.
If she persists, and maybe has a little help, she gets the hang of
it and starts to ride. And the more she rides, the better she gets at
it-her system of transportation becomes orderly once again.
The lesson is clear whether we are talking about learning to ride a
bicycle, advancing to higher quality leadership, or becoming a
learning organization: without the disorder that comes from trying
new methods or approaches, growth or improvement cannot occur. Some
level of chaotic conditions (disorder) is absolutely necessary to
evolve or advance to the non-chaotic conditions (order) at the next
level of performance. This is as true for an organization as it is
for an individual or a team.
The bicycle illustration, in which there is temporary disorder and
then the gradual appearance of order, really misrepresents things a
bit. The learning process does not go so smoothly or easily. It is
filled with small and large conditions of simultaneous order and
disorder, often highly irregular and non-linear. In other words,
learning anything does not proceed neatly and exactly. All sorts of
disturbances and fits and starts occur, provoking many people to
abort the learning process altogether after too many difficulties and
setbacks.
Suppose a leader seeks to make quantum-leap improvements in customer
service because it has been fragmented and non-responsive to customer
needs and expectations. He or she must be very aware that there will
be destabilizing conditions that will affect, probably badly, the
folks providing service to customers. They will have to give up
treasured ways of operating and relating to customers and to each
other, and this creates disorder and stress. The leader cannot simply
say that disorder is part of the process and expect the employees to
deal with it. The leader must provide stability at the same time she
or he is introducing disorder. The leader must contain the anxiety
and uncertainty that will arise from instituting a new system, from
the setbacks, errors, disappointments, and screw-ups that will
inevitably happen. This means the leader must have a much different
understanding of his or her role in the change process than is
commonly the case.
Putting into play a "change initiative" does not mean merely telling
everyone about the change with passion and commitment and then
impressing them with how important the change is, although making
those points is necessary. More importantly, it means engaging staff
around issues they may find uncomfortable or outright disagreeable,
such as the fact that higher levels of effectiveness, no matter how
measured, are impossible without some degree of disorder and probably
discomfort as well. It means finding a mix of order and disorder with
an appropriate sense of timing for the changes. These actions help
the leader in his or her "container" role.
We are not suggesting the leader attempt to protect employees or take
away all stress. We are suggesting that a leader's failure to
understand the dynamics of change around stress, fear, and
disequilibrium and failure to act on those understandings will have
bad results. Thus, clarity with staff about the need for disorder and
what it means, about being off balance and making mistakes, and about
what role the leader will play are what assist both the leader and
staff enormously in finding higher levels of performance. And the
leader must continue to engage staff about issues related to disorder
while the change initiative is proceeding.
Not doing these steps well means the leader embarks on a change
process only to see the system fail at least in part in its primary
function-serving customers at some basic level-and certainly in the
effort to improve the process. This generates great frustration on
everyone's part, especially the leader's, as he or she saw a
legitimate need for improvement and had high hopes for positive
outcomes.
Improvements in operations, strategy, performance, or customer
satisfaction can be planned. But the leverage (small, skillful
actions producing large results) for these improvements is the type
of staff interactions in which the outcomes are indeterminable,
cannot be known, but will emerge from the conversations and
deliberations. Leverage is in the hallway conversations and
brainstorming sessions, in people voluntarily examining some aspect
of work with peers and improving it. These spontaneous engagements
are very disturbing to leaders who have high needs for order or
control, as such activity is filled with unpredictable movements and
outcomes, with considerable amounts of chaos and uncertainty. But
precisely out of such interactions come high levels of creativity.
Consider the firm that wants a culture assessment to see how well
things like trust, respect, mutual support, etc., are working. The
firm's leaders get the results and decide to improve the weak spots.
Certainly, planning how to train people and what kinds of committees
to form might is wise and a common change-intervention strategy. But
attempting to define precisely the form of every aspect of the change
is singularly unwise. Such an approach fails to recognize that the
best, the most adaptive responses to this challenge are likely to
emerge unbidden and unpredictably from conversations within the
organization. Leaders fearful of such disorder will sacrifice the
disorder's benefits to their own need for order or control, no matter
how helpful the outcomes of chaos may be.
The greatest work in organizations occurs in states of disorder.
Think of the simple act of brainstorming. To a considerable degree,
both the outcome and the process are entirely unpredictable, filled
with disorder, yet the benefits can be outstanding, producing a
temporary state of order. This non-linear movement from order to
disorder to order ad infinitum is what real growth and improvement
are all about.
A leader who wishes to improve her or his ability to be open and
communicative with staff must go through personal dislocations and
often distinctly disturbing feelings and experiences. Making such
behavioral changes is usually far more difficult than making
procedural or process changes. These are so difficult, so filled with
disorder and the accompanying sense of anxiety and fear, that many
leaders are unable to weather the journey. Some leaders are so
fearful (usually unconsciously) of such changes that the idea never
even occurs to them, no matter how beneficial a change in their
behavior may be.
The lessons are clear: Leaders truly sincere about their desire to
improve themselves and their organizations must understand the
paradox of the simultaneous presence of order and disorder, and they
must develop and encourage both. The results are often astonishing.
But these results do not occur merely because the leader wishes them
to or because he or she is committed to and understands the concepts
of chaos and order. In most cases, the rewards come to those leaders
who radically change their own patterns of behavior. The rule is: If
you want to change staff's behavior (and performance) at any level,
you must first change the leader's behavior.
Like it or not, the organization's current ways of doing things have
resulted from management's formal or informal reinforcement. In
particular, the messages sent, intended or not, by the leader at the
top are critical. Thus, the leader, prior to embarking on a new
change initiative, must determine what her or his behavioral changes
must be and then put those changes into effect. In addition, that
leader must determine what behavioral changes are needed in associate
managers, top to bottom, and ensure that those behaviors are
appropriately reinforced. This effort is singularly difficult, filled
as it is with considerable stress and disorientation-once again, the
presence of chaos. Courage, patience, and perseverance are paramount.
Breaking old behavioral patterns is very hard and often painful work
and, like all learning, entails mistakes, disappointments, and
setbacks.
So developing greater organizational performance requires a clear
understanding and use of the principle of paradox, of seeing order
and disorder as two sides to the same coin-you cannot have one
without the other. Significantly enhanced performance demands leaders
see that both stability and chaos are required and that they
understand where and how those will become part of the organization's
fabric of action.
C 2000,2001 Wharton & Roi
About the Author...
As a consultant to leaders at all levels, Larry has worked with many
organizations over the past thirty years, from community colleges to
manufacturing facilities to non-profits and governments. His work
involves connecting behavioral competence and cultural re-alignment
with strategic and operating success. He uses non-traditional methods
and high leverage interventions as a way to assist leaders in
changing their behavior to make the unit or organization more
effective and efficient.
You may visit his web-site and obtain copies of his articles:
www.wiseleadership.com He may be reached at 520-577-0823.
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RESOURCES for CEOs
=============================================
The Executive Committee - Chief Executives Working Together
http://www.CEOSuccess.com
** Attention CEOs
Business leaders are choosing a new way to better their companies and
themselves - through membership in TEC, an international organization of
CEOs.
Imagine the benefits of meeting regularly with a small group
of company leaders in your area to share experiences, exchange ideas and
solve common problems.
Thousands of chief executives turn to TEC for a learning experience they
cannot get anywhere else. We are committed to connecting CEOs with the
people, ideas and information they need to help them improve their
businesses and enhance their lives.
Check it out at http://www.CEOSuccess.com
=====================================================
QUOTES to use in your staff meeting this month
=====================================================
"The price of greatness is responsibility."
Sir Winston Churchill
"Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will
have to ram it down their throats."
Howard Aiken
"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the
intelligent are full of doubt."
Bertrand Russell
"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by
stupidity."
Anon
"Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made."
Otto von Bismark
"Live out of your imagination, not your history."
Stephen Covey
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HUMOR to lighten up
the executive suite
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Good News And Bad News
-----------------------
"I have good news and bad news," the defense attorney told his
client.
"First the bad news. The blood test came back, and your DNA is an
exact
match with that found at the crime scene."
"Oh, no!" cried the client. "What's the good news?"
"Your cholesterol is only 180."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Actually Taken From Classified Ads In Newspapers:
-----------------------------------
FREE YORKSHIRE TERRIER. 8 YEARS OLD. HATEFUL
LITTLE DOG.
FREE PUPPIES: 1/2 COCKER SPANIEL...1/2 SNEAKY
NEIGHBOR'S DOG
FREE PUPPIES... PART GERMAN SHEPHERD,
PART STUPID DOG
GERMAN SHEPHERD 85 lbs. NEUTERED.
SPEAKS GERMAN. FREE.
FOUND: DIRTY WHITE DOG.
LOOKS LIKE A RAT...
BEEN OUT AWHILE..
BETTER BE A REWARD.
***excerpts from: http://www.joker.org/ ***
=================================
CONTACT CEO Success
=================================
Gary Lockwood is the publisher of the CEO Success Report.
Email: mailto:Gary@CEOSuccess.com
Office: (909) 739-7444 Fax: (909) 494-4314
Postal: 6837 Raspberry Court, Corona, CA 92880
========================================
Your Comments, please?
========================================
I appreciate feedback, corrections, and comments about the
CEO Success Report. Please send your thoughts to:
Gary@CEOSuccess.com mailto:Gary@CEOSuccess.com
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