Baseball’s back! And, okay, the Chicago Cubs record is a lowly 1 win and 2 losses. But that 1 win happened last night, so they’re actually on a wining streak! (Go ahead, say what you will; I’ve heard it all before!)

Last night’s win went to Randy Wells, who threw six shutout innings against the Braves. Wells, 28, burst onto the scene last year with a 12-10 record (after only 4 games in the “Bigs” in 2008) and is continuing to impress those around him. But even though he’s not all that young for a Major League pitcher, his spirit is:

“I’m not at the stage of my career where I can distinguish which games are big and which games aren’t,” Wells said. They all are (big) for me.”

I like that! Not just because he’s a Cubs pitcher, but because what he said is also relevant to middle managers about their attitudes and leadership tendencies.  

You see, when (small l) leaders are faced with a new challenge, problem, or issue, the first thing that too many of them do is assess “how big of a deal” it is … so to decide what NOT to give their all to. Then, anything they consider to be NBD (No Big Deal) is wait-listed, DE-prioritized, or flat-out ignored. As a former middle-manager colleague of mine was fond of saying, “NBD — If they want it bad enough, they’ll ask twice.”

Is it too Pollyanna-ish to wonder how much more could get done if (small l) leaders treated every task, assignment, project, and initiative, etc.,  as Wells treats each and every one of his starts?

Sure, Wells only plays once every 5 games, while leaders typically get (at least) 5 issues to deal with before finishing their (first) cup-o-coffee. Yet one of the things that separates (small l) leaders from (capital L) Leaders is that (capital L) Leaders consider EVERY task, assignment, project, and initiative, etc., as Wells does — as big, and proceed accordingly.

How about you, Mr./Ms. Middle-Manager? What’s holding YOU back from treating them ALL big? Chances are, it has something to do with how well you do (or don’t) delegate.

NBD? Hardly!

Related posts:

1. Level III Success
2. High Potential Coaching – Panel Discussion
3. More on the Three Levels of Success
4. More Research on Executive Coaching

What affects your Leadership Capacity? Working up from the bottom of the pyramid:

• Personal and Professional Resilience – Anyone can be a compelling Leader when things are going well. But it’s the leadership we demonstrate when things are NOT going well that really defines our leadership style, reputation, and brand. So it’s how well we RECOVER from problems – how RESILIENT we are – that really tells the tale. As such, look for opportunities to show your resilience to those who can change your future. Indeed, that’s one of the reasons why the people who “screw up” get promoted while the one’s who do everything perfectly often do not.
• Clarity in Ambiguity – Anyone can be a compelling Leader when all of your questions are answered. But it’s the leadership we demonstrate when certain pieces of key information are MISSING, when there is more AMBIGUITY than not, that shows our true leadership capacity. As such, the better we are at connecting the dots, inferring answers, and helping others realize what information is NOT needed to move forward, the better.
• Confidence and Perspective — If we have personal and professional resilience, and if we are able to derive clarity from ambiguity, our confidence naturally increases. With that added confidence, our ability to see things more strategically (with greater perspective) naturally increases, as well. The value of perspective cannot be understated – you’ll do well to remember that the next time you’re in a conflict or wanting to convince someone of something.
• Greater Organizational Impact and Influence – The fastest way to earn more leadership responsibility is to demonstrate you can impact and influence your peers, staff, and superiors in the organization, in positive and meaningful ways. But in many ways, this ability is a BYPRODUCT of the prior three elements. Indeed, combining personal and professional resilience with an ability to find clarity in ambiguity results in the type of confidence and perspective that makes having greater organizational impact and influence (read: having additional leadership capacity) all the more likely. But without those underpinnings, your efforts to impact and influence will likely go unnoticed or unappreciated, or worse yet, be an sign that you have reached your leadership capacity and can go (grow) no further.

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3. 2010q2 GGCI Newsletter
4. 2010q3 GGCI Newsletter

To pick up on a thread from a few weeks ago, there are Three Levels of Success in the workplace:

1. Level I Success = Insuring that your functional responsibilities are done well.
2. Level II Success = Level I Success + Ably assisting on special projects and priorities, as assigned.
3. Level III Success = Level I Success + Level II Success + “Furthering the Strategic Imperative, regularly and consistently.

(For more thorough definitions, see  Three Levels of Success blog post.)

Now to better understand what each Level of Success might look like on any given day, let’s look at the following:

• Primary direction of influence
  • Level I – Down the Chain
  • Level II – Up the Chain
  • Level III – Across the Chain
• How feedback is treated
  • Level I – As something to be Disputed
  • Level II – As something to be Accepted
  • Level III – As something to be Sought
• Focus of Attention
  • Level I – Systems/Workflow Optimization
  • Level II – Being a “Go To” Person
  • Level III – Providing Thought Leadership
• Key Challenges
  • Level I – Task Management
  • Level II – People Management
  • Level III – Self-Management
• Questions Asked
  • Level I – To gather information
  • Level II – To gather insights
  • Level III – To stimulate thinking
• Awareness
  • Level I – What’s going right
  • Level II – What’s going wrong
  • Level III – What needs to happen

See the differences? Helpful?

Related posts:

1. Level III Success
2. More Research on Executive Coaching
3. Post-Outage Evaluations
4. The Path of Success

I’m often asked to talk about how the “rules” change when someone is promoted from, say, manager to director, or senior director to vice president. Oh, make no mistake, the “rules” most certainly DO change. So you don’t want to get caught using old rules in a new position. Take a look at the chart:

1. My working definition of Level I Success – the kind of success that most people strive for, and often even achieve — is: “Insuring that your functional responsibilities are done well.” Indeed Level I Success is the foundation for all higher levels of success. It’s just one that many (most?) Line-Operative, Supervisors and newer Managers tend to see as their ENTIRE job description…which often it is.
2. I submit, though, that Level II Success becomes what’s required for more seasoned managers and up through those in director and senior director roles to achieve if they are to be considered “high potentials” (hi-po) or “above average” performers. These people cannot rest on their Level I Success. Indeed, it now takes their Level I Success + “Ably assisting on special projects and priorities, as assigned”  for then to be considered successful at all. In other words, what defines success at Level I, is merely a portion – and a relatively small portion, at that — of what’s needed to enable Level II Success. You may not like it, but just doing your (Level I) job no longer guarantees success.
3. Level III Success raises the bar even further. At the Vice President Senior Vice President and C-level (CEO, CFO, CIO, COO, etc.) in an organization, one’s Level I and Level II Success is considered simply “table stakes” — prerequisites on any given day. Their Level III Success comes only from Level I Success + Level II Success + “Furthering the Strategic Imperative, regularly and consistently.”

“Okay, fine. But what if my current responsibilities don’t involve me in any “Strategic Imperative” work?” you might ask. If that’s the case, then a VP-level person or higher only has two real options: (1) Try to achieve as much Level I and Level II Success as you possibly can, even though it likely WON’T result in you getting an exemplary performance review; or (2) Figure out how to get yourself involved with your company’s Strategic Imperative so that Level III Success becomes a bona fide option for you.

How? I could tell you, but better you think this through for yourself at this point.

Related posts:

1. More on the Three Levels of Success
2. Job Search Resources
3. High Potential Coaching – Panel Discussion
4. The ABCs of Good Employees … and Bad Bosses