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.

In the beginning…Listen

At the end of the series titled Joshua’s lessons on leadership, I asked for input on topics. A friend and colleague, Mike S, wrote me this in response, “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.”

Mike S, your timing is impeccable. 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 including what is effective and what is a dud. Mike thanks for the idea – this series may turn out different than you thought, but let’s go on a journey together. I hope others contribute; you all have plenty to share about your own individual ‘In the beginning’ experiences.

Napoleon said, “Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.” When you start a new role folks around you expect immediate action. Chaos will reign. There is new terminology to learn, decisions are waiting for you, people will use your arrival to advance their agenda, meetings to go to, trips to take, people to meet and all sorts of pop-up crises. Breathe deep and know that ‘In the beginning’ is a rare moment when you are most in control of your calendar. Heed Napoleon’s advice and take time to deliberate. In amongst the cacophony you must answer four simple questions:

What needs to be done? How will it get done? Who will get it done? When will we know it is getting done? With these questions answered you will be far more effective at ‘go in’.

Your most potent tool to discover the answer to these questions is the art and skill of effective listening. If I do a Google search on ‘effective listening’ I get 1,940,000 responses. Cleary a popular subject, yet not one I can cover completely in a blog post. However, I would like to share a few lessons taught to me by my friend and mentor, Margreet van de Griend, senior partner at the consulting firm Axialent (www.axialent.com).

Margreet counsels us to think about interpersonal interactions in the context of a 2x2 matrix where the vertical axis is level of advocacy (low to high) and the horizontal axis is level of inquiry (low to high). This provides four different modes:

1. Low advocacy/low inquiry – observing
2. High advocacy/low inquiry – asserting
3. Low advocacy/high inquiry – listening
4. High advocacy/high inquiry – influencing

In order for us to take advantage of Margreet’s framework, we have to exercise effective advocacy and inquiry skills. Effective advocacy requires that we clarify our intentions, remain centered, express ourselves, support the expression of others and persist with our perspective through the objections of others.

Effective inquiry requires that we park our agenda, attend to the other person through body language, amplify their ideas through encouragement and clarifying questions and reflect the other person through effective summarizing and paraphrasing.

In addition to learning, practicing and implementing these skills we have to determine which mode to operate in given the situation. It should be a purposeful decision to be observing, vs. asserting vs. listening vs. influencing. Think back to the key questions we need to answer; what, who and how. Can we get these questions answered by merely observing? If we spend our time asserting our position, can we discover what we need to know? The answer to both questions is a resounding ‘no’. We need to be either in an influencing or a listening mode. Both call for a high level of inquiry.

Look back at the list of skills under inquiry. If we could pick only one to execute it would be ‘park your agenda’. Here is a challenge. Pay attention to the next five conversations you have. Notice how often during the conversation you are timing the other person; trying to determine when they are going to take a breath and formulating your point or counterpoint to whatever they are saying. If you are like me, the only way for someone to finish a thought sometimes is for them to never breathe. I find myself waiting to pounce on any moment of silence. When that is happening, I am not truly listening. Park your agenda; it is likely the most important action we can take to improve our ability to listen and influence.

In the beginning we are likely more objective than at any point in our tenure. We probably have more control over our time than we will ever have. Objectivity and time are critical ingredients for effective deliberation. There will be a moment to ‘go in’. Take a moment now to deliberate, discover, inquire and park your agenda.

In the beginning…Listen

Joshua's lessons on leadership - Joshua's Last Lesson

For those of you that follow this blog, I apologize for the length of time between posts. I generally update this blog every week or so and it has been four weeks since my last update. The last month has been a blur of travel that ended up with me accepting a role at a new company. I now plan to get back on my regular blog schedule. As always, I’d love any input on topics.

If you have been following the blog you know that I’ve been writing about leadership lessons 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, Joshua reminded us that “Leaders Protect the Truth”. In this post, I close out my thoughts on Joshua with “Joshua’s Last Lesson”.

The stage for this last lesson is Joshua’s farewell address. Joshua lead the Jewish people for 28 years and brought an area of land bounded by the Egyptian empire to the south and the Mesopotamia to the north under one rule through 14 years of conquest and settlement. This was no easy task since no one power ruled this section of land; it was inhabited by seven Canaanite tribes in 31 fortified city-states scattered all over the map, each ruled by its own "king." Here is what we know, "when the country was at rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then old and well advanced in years, summoned all Israel, their elders, leaders, judges and officials". Joshua summoned them for his farewell speech. I imagine that people sat on the edge of their seat to listen. They were all there to hear the last words of the man who lead them to their permanent home.

Have you ever noticed we pay more attention to someone’s farewell speech than most anything else they say? I had a coach who once told me, “Alex, it is not about how you enter a role that matters; it is about how you leave it”. Think about some of the famous farewell comments through history:

• Napoleon – “Do not regret my fate; if I have consented to survive, it is to serve your glory”
• Edward VIII – “I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility without the help and support of the woman I love”
• Lou Gehrig – “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth”
• LBJ – “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as President”
• Douglas MacArthur - “I came through, and I shall return”
• George Washington – “Observe good faith and justice towards all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all”

When it comes time to give a farewell address people become thoughtful and selective with their words. Whether passing on an idea, encouragement, closure, a lesson or a directive, a farewell message speaks loudly about the person’s deepest character and passion.

So what did Joshua tell the people that were gathered to listen to his final lesson? What did they hear as they leaned into his farewell address? "Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written…without turning aside to the right or to the left”

The last lesson of Joshua directs us toward strength, obedience and determination. Strength observed as moral power, firmness, or courage. Obedience defined as subjection to rightful restraint or control. Determination described as the quality of being resolute; firmness of purpose.

At the end of his life, in his farewell address, Joshua gives us one last great lesson. When we lead, it is not our words that matter. It is our actions that should demonstrate strength, obedience and determination.

Joshua's lessons on leadership - Leaders Protect the Truth

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, I discussed the need to remember “Leaders Eat Last”.  In this post, Joshua reminds us “Leaders Protect the Truth”.

I want to use a mechanism created under Joshua’s rule as a proxy for the level to which we need to seek out and protect the truth in the organizations we lead.  The back-story for this analogy is the concept of the Cities of Refuge.

In the Israelite society Joshua led, there was no police force to investigate crimes. If someone was killed, it was the moral responsibility of the family member who was closest to the victim to investigate and avenge the murder.  This person became the avenger of blood – the kinsman redeemer.

However, a human redeemer’s subjectivity, passion, and anger at the loss of their family member just might cloud their judgment.  They might end up avenging the death by killing someone who wasn't guilty of a capital crime.

Joshua, as the leader of his people had to set up a system to protect the innocent and provide time to sort out the truth of a situation.  The system was ‘Cities of Refuge’.  What we know from tradition is that any of the Israelites or any alien living among them who killed someone accidentally could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.

Here are some interesting facts about these Cities of Refuge:

• They were strategically located so there would be easy access to them for anybody seeking refuge.
• Highways were built to increase the ability for someone to get to these cities of refuge.
• These highways were maintained so that nobody was ever hindered in getting to these cities.
• Bridges were built across every ravine, so that the person running for refuge wouldn't have to waste time climbing to the bottom of the ravine and then up the other side.
• The highways were rebuilt every spring after the heavy winter rains so that the road surface would be smooth and easy to run on.
• At every crossroads or intersection on these highways, there were big, bold signs pointing the way with the word ‘Refuge’ in large letters.
• The gates of the cities of refuge were never locked.
• The city was well stocked to provide for any fugitives who came to stay for however long they might need to be there.
• The cities were designated for all the people of Israel, including the stranger.
• The same justice, the same protection and provision, were free to all.

How effectively are you setting up ‘Cities of Refuge’ in the organization you lead or are a part of?  Are you building and maintaining roads for the truth to get to you?  Are you building bridges?  Are there signposts in your organization with ‘Truth’ in large letters?  Are all people able to bring the truth or just a selected few of your favorites? Do you do anything unconsciously that locks out the truth?

I know people are not getting physically killed on our teams.  Yet conflict occurs all the time.  An error happens.  A mistake is made.  A deal is lost.  A customer gets mad.  A decision costs the organization time and money.  Then people start defending and justifying.  This sets off acts of accusation and retribution that get increasingly personal.  These acts disintegrate into permanently scarred team members, colleagues who become incapable of trusting each other.  Nine times out of ten, the event was less egregious and purposeful than assumed.  There is an innocent person involved that needs refuge.  There is a truth that needs to be protected.  When your folks see you reliably seek out the truth of a situation by taking the time to discover and understand all perspectives they will stop making personal accusations and trust will reign.

Look back at the effort that was necessary to insure safe passage of a person to a City of Refuge.  You and I must take a page from Joshua’s book and go through the same level of effort as Joshua creating routes for the truth to get to us, protecting, defending and highlighting those routes. 

Winston Churchill said, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”  We have to give the truth a chance to get its pants on and pass all the fiction that gets created.  Or as it is written on the main tower of my alma mater, The University of Texas “Ye Shall Know the Truth, And the Truth Shall Make You Free.”

You are the guardian of the truth.  Leaders Protect the Truth.

Joshua's lessons on leadership - Leaders Eat Last

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, I discussed the reality that “Results Matter”.  In this post, Joshua reminds us “Leaders Eat Last”.

The setting for this lesson comes after Joshua has led Israel through many victories.  Tradition has it that he is close to 100 years old when he completes the battles that returned a people group to a land they had left 400 years earlier.  By this time Joshua had rolled up a pretty good record, 31& 0, decent results for a wandering people who had just crossed the Jordan.  Although Joshua did not obtain a total victory over the territory (he did not defeat the Philistines and others inhabiting the seacoast, and he did not capture the northern lands between Mt. Hermon and the Euphrates River, which would not be totally captured for another 300 years) he completed enough to shift from warrior to administrator.

After the victories, Joshua led an effort to divide the land between the various tribes that had wandered with Moses and fought with Joshua.  We read that, “Joshua took the entire land and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war”.  It is in the act of dividing the land that Joshua sets an expectation of leadership.  After all of the land had been divided, we find out that “when they had finished dividing the land into its allotted portions, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance.  They gave him the town he asked for - Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he built up the town and settled there”.

Let me get this straight; Joshua leads an army in a multi-year battle with 31 different kings, gives all the land away and then merely asks for a city to live in?  Was Joshua a Marine?  Forgive a little literary license.  I know Joshua was not a Marine, but I can see the Marine code in the way that Joshua led.  The code includes, in order: 

1. Accomplish the mission
2. Look after the welfare of your people
3. Look after your own needs 

With this code in mind, Marines take care of Marines first. This is where one of the more well known aspects of the Marines gets its’ origin…when Marines eat, the lowest ranking eat first, the highest ranking eat last.  It is an action observable by all, which occurs each day and is a visible sign of the culture of the organization. 

I just finished reading a book I highly recommend called “The Unforgiving Minute” by Craig Mullaney.  Craig grew up in a blue-collar, Irish-Catholic family and went to the U.S. Military Academy.  He graduated West Point in 2000 and was commissioned in the United States Army. After completing Ranger School, Craig continued to the University of Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship. In 2003, Craig led an infantry rifle platoon along the hostile border between Afghanistan and Pakistan with the 10th Mountain Division as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. 

Here is what General David Petraeus said about Craig’s book, “The Unforgiving Minute is a wonderful, beautifully written story of the education and development of a young soldier-scholar, the coming of age of an infantry officer, and the exercise of a small unit leader's responsibilities in a tough, complex, and frustrating situation in Afghanistan. It captures particularly eloquently and movingly the relationships among those who walk point for our nation as part of that most elite of fraternities, the brotherhood of the close fight.” 

What does the Unforgiving Minute have to do with Joshua?  During Ranger training Craig writes, “There is a chain of command, but there also is a chain of influence…I had to lead by example.  If I wanted them to march faster, I had to march twice as fast with a smile on my face.  If I wanted them to extend their threshold of pain, I had to push myself even harder and under no circumstance could I afford to whine.  The only way to gain my squad’s loyalty was to show loyalty to them.  I served them, not the other way around.” 

At one point Craig is standing on Omaha beach in Normandy with a Lieutenant Colonel who is a combat veteran and a Ranger.  Craig asks the Colonel, “How do you know you’ll handle combat?”  The Colonel replies, “You don’t, you’ll never know until you are there.  What you will know for certain is that it will be chaotic and loud, and you’ll be ready to piss in your own boots.  You’ll be more scared of letting your men down than anything the enemy is going to do to you.  And then you’ll lead from instinct and judgment.  That is the price of a salute” 

The price of a salute.  Leaders are human, there is a tendency at least for me to say in my mind, “I have done this for 25 years, I deserve a little (fill in the blank – glory, luxury, rest, stuff, nice hotel room, bigger seat on the airplane).”  Basically saying, “What are the rewards of a salute?”  Joshua divides the land and gives it away first.  He gets his inheritance after the people he has led.  Joshua reminds us to eat last.  To show others through action the level at which you care about their welfare. To serve and not to take.  To wake up in the morning and think,"What will I do for my team today?" not "What will my team do for me today?"

The price of a salute? Eat last.

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 - Inner Strength

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, I discussed the importance of “See the truth; but not for worse than it is”.  In this post, Joshua shows us “Inner Strength”.

The story of Joshua’s “Inner Strength” occurs at the end of his mentor’s life.  Joshua had been #2 to Moses for almost 40 years.  Together they had led the tribes on a nomadic journey that lasted an entire generation.  At the end of the journey, when they are just about to cross the Jordan River and change from being nomads into their permanent residence, Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of everyone else, "Be strong and courageous, for you must lead these people to their future home, the home we have discussed this entire journey and you must divide it among them as their inheritance”.

There is no great time to take over for a legend.  There is no perfect moment to step into a giant’s shoes.  However there are some moments more difficult than others.  Imagine Joshua, “What Moses?  Where are you going?  Just wait a few more miles, get the tribe to their new home and then I can take it from there.  And can you go ahead and divide the land before you leave?  You have a lot more credibility than me.  What if they do not listen to me?”

I had a similar (albeit substantially less dramatic and important) moment in my work life.  I was at a company and had just been asked to take over the leadership of a large organization.  My task was to take over from someone who had been at the company for a long time, was well liked, fire about 20% of the organization and then restore morale.

Gulp.

The day after we let a several hundred people go we had an all-hands meeting.  The meeting was in a large building with bleachers along one wall.  I came in the back of the building and had to walk down the bleachers to the floor and turn around and address the team.  As I walked down the bleachers, I could feel the fear, distrust, frustration, anticipation and worry emitting like raw electricity from the hundreds of people in the room.  Alone, walking down the stairs, all I could see was a solitary microphone like a lost child in the middle of the room.  I realized at that moment, the people in the room did not really care about me personally; they cared about themselves, their future and what was going to happen next.  They really just wanted and needed to know that whoever walked up to that microphone and opened their mouth had their hands on the wheel and was willing to drive.  I was alone.  Fortunately I had a mentor just moments before tell me, “Alex – be strong and courageous, you can do this”

Moses tells Joshua he believes in him, he tells him to be strong and courageous in front of the entire gathering of people.  We learn from the story that Joshua was filled with wisdom when Moses transferred power to him.  Then Moses climbed the 3,300 foot Mount Nebo on the northwest edge of the Dead Sea just across the Jordan River from Jericho, looked into the future home of the tribe, and died.

At that moment Joshua is by himself.  He is the picture of leadership and loneliness.  Joshua is isolated and the only thing he can rely upon is “Inner Strength”.  He looks to that which gives him inner strength.  For Joshua it was his creator and he heard, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people, be strong and very courageous.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged”.  Three times he heard these words, the same words he heard from Moses and this provided him “Inner Strength”

In our journey there will be moments when we are alone.  The great philosopher Dr. Seuss tells us this in his seminal work, Oh The Places You’ll Go!

All Alone!  Whether you like it or not, alone will be something you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.  There are some, down the road between hither and yon that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

In those moments, you will need to determine what gives you “Inner Strength”.  For me in my lonely moment, it was having the one person I needed to believe in me, believe in me.  A person who knew well the words of Thomas Carlyle, “Tell a person they are brave and you help them become so”.  For Joshua it was the belief that his creator was supporting his next steps. 

What is it for you?   Whatever it is, you must find it and have it, because you will need it.  In those moments, if you do not have “Inner Strength” you will not be prepared to lead.  You will be defined by these crucible events where the only thing that gets you and the team to move forward is your “Inner Strength”