In the Beginning…Ask Questions

A friend and colleague, Mike S, recently wrote to me, “I enjoy reading your thoughts on leadership and know you have dealt in the past with how a leader sets an example, acts and lives, but I was wondering if you have considered the topic I will call ‘how a leader starts’. This topic intrigues me because I am about to start something new and the timing is appropriate.”

I am starting a new role as well so this is a great moment to explore the subject of ‘In the Beginning’. In a series of posts I will outline some of my thoughts as I start this new role. The last blog was about “listen” this one is about “ask questions”.

Before you can listen, you sometimes have to ask questions. There are all sorts of techniques to asking questions:

• Open and closed ended questions
• Using a funnel
• Probing questions
• Leading the witness
• Rhetorical questions

While these are useful, they are merely the manner in which you try to elicit input from an individual or group. No matter what technique you use, your posture becomes the most important attribute when you “ask questions”

I want to be clear about the use of the term posture. I do not mean the position of your limbs or the carriage of your body as a whole. In this context I am talking about the definition whereby posture is a mental or spiritual attitude. Your internal attitude as you ask question, no matter what technique you use, will have profound impact on the way the organization operates.

It is human nature to be fault finders. In our natural state we run around, seek out imperfections and crush them. Think about almost every strategy or planning meeting you have been in. It usually has this question somewhere in it, “All right folks, let’s figure out what is broken and let’s go fix it!” I am at the front of the parade, completely guilty of this approach. Of course, this is sometimes necessary in every business or endeavor, so I am not advocating that we never look at what is going wrong and put plans in place to recover, fix, turn around or eliminate the brokenness of an organization.

That said, we have to be careful that we do not fall in a trap where all of our questioning comes from a posture of, “what’s wrong?” Why not? There is an important principal at work here; human systems grow in the direction of what they persistently ask questions about. If I continue to ask questions from a “what’s wrong” posture, the organization will focus its time, energy and ultimately its attitude around broken things. It will grow towards what is wrong. We need to invert this outcome, instead of negation, criticism, and spiraling diagnosis, we must send our organization in the direction of discovery, dream, and design.

How do we do this? How can we send our organization in the direction of what works? There is a fairly significant body of work around the field of Appreciative Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry joins two powerful words.

Ap-pre’ci-ate, v. valuing; the act of recognizing the best in people or the world around us; affirming past and present strengths, successes, and potentials; to perceive those things that give life (health, vitality, excellence) to living systems

In-quire’, v., 1. the act of exploration and discovery. 2. To ask questions; to be open to seeing new potentials and possibilities.

How does appreciative inquiry manifest itself as you ‘ask questions’? Think of these two questions; “We are trying to grow this business, what is wrong? What is broken? Why can we not seem to grow the business?” Or; “We are trying to grow this business; can you tell me some examples of where growth has worked? How do we replicate those examples?”

You can picture the difference in my posture as I ask those two questions. You can almost sense the difference in the room during these two very different conversations. This mode of questioning repeated time and again at all levels throughout the organization can have a profound impact on the attitude, energy, initiative and success within a company. In fact, David L. Cooperrider and Diana Whitney assert in some of their writing on Appreciative Inquiry, “The single most prolific thing a group can do if its aims are to liberate the human spirit and consciously construct a better future is to make positive change the common and explicit property of all.”

In the beginning…ask questions. But check your posture. Beyond your questioning techniques, what is the core of what you are trying to find out? Are you trying to discover all that is broken or examples of where success is occurring?

Winston Churchill said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” We have to ‘ask questions’ in such a manner that we give our folks the chance to see the opportunity in the difficulty.

Joshua's lessons on leadership - Results Matter

In a series of posts, I want to discuss what we can learn about leadership from Joshua ben Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, which would become known as the most militaristic of the tribes of Israel through Joshua's campaigns.  If this is the first post in the series you have read please do a quick review of the 30 March, 2009 blog titled  “Joshua's lessons on leadership - Intro”; that post highlights why I am looking into Joshua’s life.

In the last entry, I discussed the importance of “Inner Strength”.  In this post, Joshua shows us “Results Matter”.

Winston Churchill said, “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”  Results matter and for the leader, the ability to demonstrate results is a force multiplier.  People trust a leader that gets it done.  Joshua illuminates this principal during one of the more famous stories in his life - the Battle at Jericho.

Ancient Jericho is located at Tell es-Sultan, next to an abundant spring on the western edge of the Jordan Valley, just north of the Dead Sea. The site’s water supply and climate have made it a desirable place to live from the very beginning of settled habitation. A Neolithic settlement at the site goes back to about 8000 BC, making Jericho the world’s oldest city.

The site is strategically located. From Jericho you have access to the heartland of Canaan.  Any military force attempting to penetrate the central hill country from the east would first have to capture Jericho.  Therefore, Joshua must conquer and hold Jericho for the tribes of Israel to move into their new home. 

Joshua comes into the battle with a great track record.  Recall from the post on 13 April that he lead an important victory early in his career.  Then he was picked by the legendary leader of the tribes to bring the wandering population into their new homes.  He had also just led important victories against the King of Heshbon and the King of Bashan; these two cities lay just east of the Jordan river and their capture allowed the tribes to have a protected launching point for crossing into their desired homeland. Finally, right before the battle, he led the people to cross the Jordan River during a time of year when it should have been at flood stage, yet all got across safely. 

Joshua would need this track record because he asked his army to do something unexpected.  Joshua had in inspiration of how the Battle of Jericho would be fought.  “We will march around the city once with all the armed men and do this for six days.  Then on the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in."

Let me put this in perspective.  The Siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade from October 21, 1097, to June 2, 1098.  During those eight months battle engines were created, raised up against the walls and destroyed, hundreds of sorties were attempted; the crusaders were under continuous surprise attack.  In the winter months, they ran out of food and ate bark, drank the blood of their animals, suffered disease and famine.  In general, a siege of a walled city was really hard work and it lasted a long time with intense suffering on both the besieged and the attackers.

So I can only imagine the reaction of Joshua’s generals when he laid out his plan, “Guys, you will not have to fight and the siege will only last seven days – seriously”.  The generals look at Joshua and then look up at the walls of Jericho.

An earthen barricade surrounded Jericho with a stone retaining wall at its base. The retaining wall was 12–15 feet high. On top of that was a wall six feet thick and about 20–26 feet high. At the crest of the barricade was a similar wall whose base was roughly 46 feet above the ground level outside the retaining wall. This is what loomed high above the Israelites as they marched around the city each day for seven days. Humanly speaking, it was impossible for the Israelites to penetrate the impregnable stronghold of Jericho.

They looked back at Joshua, “Seriously guys, I am just saying that if we do this and then blow a horn and shout the walls will come down”.  Without a track record of results, I imagine Joshua’s generals looking at each other and raising their eyebrows.  Maybe one or two who are complete sycophants say, “Yes!! That is a great plan”.  Then the rest grumble to each other, “OK, the river is one thing, but shout at the walls and they fall down?  Let’s humor poor Joshua for seven days and then we can build our real siege plan”

Yet, the army followed his command; they were following a man who had delivered increasingly difficult results.  For six days marching and not attacking or even threatening the city probably lulled the defenders.  A change in pattern on the seventh day should have alerted the defenders. The silent marchers appeared as before, but this time marched around the city seven times. This completed, they turned toward the walls and the priests leading the column each blew a ram's horn and the multitude shouted. At this, the walls fell.   This created an easy slope up the earthen embankment between the inner and outer city walls, allowing the army easy access to an impenetrable city.  No description is given of resistance, only of results, “every man charged straight in, and they took the city and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it”

Joshua had an inspiration and asked his army to follow.  Without a track record of results would they have followed the plan he outlined?  Maybe or maybe not.  However it was far easier for them to follow with confidence and energy knowing their leader usually got it done.  Results matter - not just for the mission today, but also for the mission tomorrow.

Joshua's lessons on leadership - See the truth: but not for worse than it is

In a series of posts, I want to discuss what we can learn about leadership from Joshua ben Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, which would become known as the most militaristic of the tribes of Israel through Joshua's campaigns.  If this is the first post in the series you have read, please do a quick review of the March 30, 2009 blog titled  “Joshua's lessons on leadership - Intro”; that post highlights why I am looking into Joshua’s life.

In the last entry, we dug into a lesson about obedience, when Joshua “fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered”.  In this post, we learn the importance of “See the truth: but not for worse than it is”. 

After the battle with the Amalekites, Joshua becomes Moses’ aid de camp.  Moses took him everywhere, even up the mountain when Moses got the first set of famous stone tablets.  A little over two years after the battle where Joshua showed obedience, came the event that Joshua showed the importance of “See the truth, but not for worse than it is”

Moses selects twelve men to go explore Canaan, the land that the Israelites were supposed to settle in.  These twelve men were each selected as leaders from the original twelve tribes of Israel.  Joshua was among the men.  Moses gave fairly broad instructions to the men, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country.  See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many.  What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they un-walled or fortified?  How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees on it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land."  Essentially these twelve leaders were sent out on a reconnaissance mission; they were spies.

The twelve men spent time gathering information about Canaan, even bringing back examples of the fruit that existed.  Moses gathered advisors to listen to the reports, "We went into the land to which you sent us, and you were right, it would be a great place for us, however, the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.”  A man named Caleb, who would become a key partner of Joshua said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."

Then all hell breaks loose, the rest of the men, except for Joshua start shouting over each other in the assembly meeting, “We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." Worse, they walked among the rest of the people telling them, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."  They created a truth that was worse than it really was.

Have you noticed there is always a group of people, when confronted with a challenge, who choose to see the worst of all the outcomes? Moreover, it is insufficient for them to be worried by themselves; they must bring people along with them.  This infection of worrying is actually easy to accomplish; worry can be more contagious than hope.  So their definition of “lead” is to get others to worry with them.  When it happens, they think they have followers.  In reality people are just following their fears not the person who speaks to the fear. 

Here is the interesting thing about worry vs. fear.  Fear we will all feel.  Fear will enter our journey often.  Worry does not have to be our companion.  Worry is fear not healed by belief.  If I believe in the team, their talents, their preparation, their effort, their sponsorship and their attitude I need not worry.  My belief in any situation can heal my fear.  So these “leaders” who were walking around the tribes were not sowing fear; they were creating worry.  This is not the job of a leader.

Dwight Eisenhower wrote to his wife from Algiers on December 30^th, 1942, “As pressure mounts and strain increases everyone begins to show the weaknesses in his makeup. It is up to the Commander to conceal his; above all to conceal doubt, fear and distrust”.  Eisenhower understood the leader's job is to heal fear through belief and not let worry take hold in the gut of the team.

What about Joshua?  Let’s look back at the rest of the story.  The night that the spies came back with their report, after worry had been sown all the people of the community raised their voices, wept and grumbled, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Our wives and children will be taken as plunder.  We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt."

 Joshua and his partner Caleb, stood strong in front of the entire community and said, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. Do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone…do not be afraid of them."

There was still conflict and argument, but this moment by Joshua, where he “saw the truth, but not for worse than it is” was a turning point in the Israelites history.

Or, in the words of Napoleon, “A leader is a dealer in hope”.  Joshua was dealing hope, not worry.

David's lessons on leadership - Jonathan Moments

In a series of posts, I am going to reflect upon what we can learn about leadership from David, King of Israel.  If this is the first post in the series you have read, please do a quick review of the January 2, 2009 blog titled  “David’s lessons on leadership – Intro”; that post outlines why I am looking into David’s life.

The previous blog dealt with going astray and why we should “Stay on Mission”.  This post is a commentary on impact of the support of one person, the change that occurs in our lives and leadership journey when we have a “Jonathan Moment”.

Early in David’s journey to leadership he went through a very difficult moment.  In that moment one friend, Jonathan stood with him and Jonathan’s allegiance led David to the next stage of his life.

Before I describe the moment, I need to give you the back-story.  After David kills Goliath at the tender age of 17, Saul the king promoted him to a high rank in the army.  David continued to serve Saul and lead troops into battle on Saul’s behalf.  The people of Israel and Judah loved what David was doing and the rest of the army commanders also became impressed with his victories.  In addition, David began a deep friendship with Jonathan, the son of Saul.  Saul goes through a strange metamorphosis whereby all the admiration that lands on David starts to make Saul jealous.  Saul started as a mentor to David and then makes several attempts to assassinate him.

The pivotal, difficult moment comes during the New Moon Festival or Rosh Chodesh, which was an important and visible ceremony for Saul.  David is convinced Saul is trying to kill him and Jonathan is equally convinced that his father, Saul, would never kill David.   

They devise a way to test Saul’s intent.  David is to stay away from the feast and when Saul asks Jonathan about David, Jonathan is to say that David wanted to go to Bethlehem and be with his family.  Jonathan would watch his father’s reaction and then come to a place where David is hiding and provide a secret signal.  He told David, “I will shoot three arrows to the side of where you are hiding, as though I were shooting at a target. Then I will send a boy and say, 'Go, find the arrows.' If I say to him, 'Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them here,' then come, because, you are safe; there is no danger. But if I say to the boy, 'Look, the arrows are beyond you,' then you must go”

Well, Saul gets angry that David is not there and tells Jonathan that David must die.  Jonathan heads out to where David is hiding and implements the plan.  Jonathan sends the signal that lets David know that Saul means to kill him.  As David gets up to leave all he has ever known, his friend Jonathan says to him, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other…between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.”

This is a moment of deep despair for David.  When he heard the words, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?” he knew that his life was changed in a profound way.  Everything he knew would be different.  Where he lived, how he lived, what he did and who he walked with - all different and all a mystery at this moment in time.  However, knowing Jonathan believed in him, David was able to move forward.

Each of us has moments in our lives when something happens and we know everything next will be different.  Leading up to that moment, we may think about the change, we may plan for the change, but until it is there we are not really “all in”.  Then it happens and the bridges burn behind us.  It is that moment when it is so critical to have at least one person who believes in you.  With just one person, you can move through life’s stages with confidence.

An example for me was a demanding moment at work on March 30^th, 2003.  It was the end of our fiscal year and everything crashed around my shoulders; I knew the next step would be difficult and different.  At that moment I had one man, an ex-boss and mentor, write me a short note.  I have kept it to this day.  Here is what he wrote:

I stopped by this morning, but you were in the gym. Since you looked like you had just watched your puppy get run over last night, I wanted to check in on you this morning.

However, knowing you as well as I do, I know you have moved on to the New Year, and are walking with confidence and enthusiasm this morning. Your team will expect you to be mad and lack some confidence and conviction after a rough close to the year, and as usual I know you will surprise them, and they will draw strength from your example.

Watching you attack your job, and emerge as one of the true top sales leaders in our company this year, all while "Doing it Right", has inspired me. It hasn't surprised me, though. Nor is it the first time you have inspired me.  Just wanted to drop you a note and make sure you weren't going to let two or three accounts, a war and an I/T slump have any impact on your confidence or your ability to lead. I'm not sure why I bothered.....I know you won't let that happen. You never have in the past.

Five years later this note still inspires me, it tells me at least one person believed in me in a really rough moment.  I am not sure this person knows just how much they lifted me up at this moment.  My ‘Jonathan’ arrived at the exact moment I needed him.

When Jonathan tells David, “Go in peace we have sworn friendship with each other”, he is giving David the incredible power of belief; the power one person receives when he or she knows there is at least one person who believes in them.  Each of us needs to commit to being a Jonathan.  Commit to taking a moment and letting the David’s in your life know you believe in them and are faithful to them.  When you say these four words, “I believe in you”; you can change a person’s life and shepherd them through the most difficult moments they face.

Go - hand someone a “Jonathan Moment”.

Passion Part II - Vision

In the previous post, I wrote of passion as a force multiplier in an organization and the creation of passion through individuals who know their role, are convinced their role matters and see the good of their work.  I argued that leaders must focus on five elements to create this level of passion; vision, culture, principles, style and sacrifice.  In this post, I will discuss vision.

Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish".  People are wired to pursue something larger than themselves.  It is in their microcode.  History is created by humans pursuing extraordinary achievements with passion spurred on by vision.  Two of the most indelible imprints on the United States in the latter half of the 20th century were the civil rights movement and the race toward the moon.  Both were activated with great vision.  

On August 28th, 1963 at the conclusion of the March for Jobs and Freedom, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous speech containing lines like, "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal".  This event and speech was the tipping point for the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  

The promise of landing on the moon created numerous technical innovations and captivated the hearts and minds of a young generation.  On May 25th, 1961, John F. Kennedy challenged Congress and the nation to put a man on the moon and then at Rice University on September 12th, 1962, Kennedy delivered his most quoted words about the mission, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills"

The civil rights movement and the race to the moon enrolled millions of people into extraordinary, sustained action.  People stayed convinced of their role, its' importance and the good in their work as they pursued racial equality and exploration of space.  Key to this level of passion was the vision cast by King and Kennedy.  Since their visions were so effective, it is useful to study both and understand the four elements a vision must have to captivate people:

1. The vision is focused on hope
2. The vision points beyond the leader
3. The vision is extraordinary but not unattainable
4. The vision is easily communicated

Focused on hope:  A vision focused on hope is more powerful than one focused on fear or negativity.  It is always easy to be against something, but more difficult to be for something.  When you are for something you open yourself up to criticism, second guessing and self-doubt.  Yet it is when you are for something that you can activate hope.  However, we must be clear about hope; what it is and what it is not.  I had these words given to me by a friend at a very difficult time,  "Alex, hope reflects the health of our spirit rather than what is happening at a moment in our lives. Hope is not the equivalent of optimism.  Its opposite is not pessimism but despair and resignation.  Hope is about keeping the faith despite the evidence so that the evidence has a chance of changing."  When we create our vision, a vision based upon hope, we must know that hope is not optimism.  Hope is a deep sense of faith in the outcome. Faith, as Paul says in Hebrews 11:1 is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Both King and Kennedy were sure of what they believed and they were certain of the outcome, even if they could not see all the steps.  They never said it would be easy, they never said it would happen without struggle or sacrifice, but they exuded faith in the outcome.  Our vision must be one of a positive future and believed so deeply by us that our faith in the outcome is unquestionable.  

Beyond the Leader:  Both King and Kennedy pointed past themselves toward something larger and more everlasting.  You may remember the lyrics to a song called Cult of Personality that came out in 1989 by the heavy metal band Living Colour, You gave me fortune, you gave me fame, you give me power in your god’s name.  I’m every person you need to be; I’m the cult of personality.  The purpose of our vision is not to attract people to us as leaders, it is not to tell them that the answer lies with us.  Our role in casting a vision is to point toward something past us, something that can live on beyond the lifespan of the leader.  A vision must connect people to their relationship with the future, not create a cult of personality.

Extraordinary but not unattainable.  I have a good friend, Art Wilson, who owns a company called Critical Path Strategies.  Art leads people through the creation of business goals and plans.  One of the important exercises he facilitates is goal setting.  In this exercise, Art distinguishes between four levels of goals; clear, stretch, extraordinary and pipe-dream.  The clear goal is one that you have high confidence in achieving by working the way you work today.  The stretch goal is one you are a little less sure of, but you will get there working the way you work today; just with more effort.  The pipe-dream is a goal that is so far away from reality, no one believes it.  The pipe-dream is mere fantasy, it is unattainable and it demotivates the team.  The important goal is the extraordinary goal.  This is a goal you can just barely see in the mist, it is audacious and it will require you to change the way you are working today.  You are not exactly sure how you will get there, but you and others can imagine the possibility.  The end point in the journey must be just out of reach, but not unattainable.

Easily communicated.  The phrase, "If I had more time, I would write you a shorter letter" has been credited to Mark Twain, Blaise Pascal, T.S. Eliot and Henry Thoreau.  I do not know who really wrote it, but it is the essential truth in communications.  Take the time to make it short and memorable.  Good communication can be learned through hard work.  Andy Craig is a colleague who knows this well.  He runs a company dedicated to memorable communication, you can find him at www.elevatorspeech.com.  Andy has mastered the art communicating your idea in a clear, concise and compelling manner.  If I can summarize Andy's coaching it is "tell a story".  Stories are remembered, speeches are not.  And tell the story in plain language.  A comment I know is from Mark Twain, "Anybody can have ideas—the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph.  I never write "metropolis" for seven cents when I can write "city" and get paid the same.  As to the adjective, when in doubt, strike it out".  "I have a dream", "We choose to go to the moon".  Four words and seven words - all single syllable.

You do not have to be a visionary to create, own and communicate vision.  All you need to do is be willing to go through the hard work of creating a vision based upon hope, that looks beyond you as the leader, is extraordinary in its' goal and can be communicated well.

In the next post, I will discuss culture.