The Boomer Grind - "No One Ever Told Me"

At times, life can be a grind. Grind is defined by Encarta Dictionary - as to push something down firmly or crush something on a surface with a twisting or rotating motion (like grinding dirt into the carpet).

The life of a Boomer has become a grind. The early days of this grind began when I heard this statement, for the first time, forty years ago... "No one ever told me!" (and, think about the song, American Pie, "the day the music died...")

• "No one ever told me about inflation and high interest rates!" ,,,

When Does The Leader Make A Difference?

This blog title began germinating early last week week after a friend posted a link to an article "People Don't Leave Companies, They Leave Leaders." 

By the end of the week, he let me know he had left his job. I'm assuming he had considered his departure and the article may have quickened his decision. We get together this coming week and I'll find out more.

The premise of the article - it really is all about the quality of the leadership. This should be a quick kick in the rear for anyone in a leadership role. Being the leader really does mean - within the domain of your authority, everything and everyone is your responsibility. A leader is absolutely held accountable for what they think, do and say. In the case of this friend, the difference the leader made appears to not be positive for the company.

If the leader is not learning why good people are leaving that leader may not realize good people won't put up with low quality leadership. (later in this blog, you can learn how to measure the quality of leadership) 

If a leader is not willing to learn why people are leaving, they are not learning to think differently and they will not act differently. They keep doing the same thing expecting different results. Such leaders keep running off good people and eventually attract only people who will put up with a low quality leader. The result is the low quality leader finally gets fired. Einstein identified that as insanity. And, there is a solution for leaders who are willing to think and act differently than they have in the past.

Leaders Need A Roadmap In Order To Meet People Where They Are

Whenever I hear stories of good people leaving because of the leader, it makes me wonder if both the leader and the employee have a roadmap so each knows where the other is on the map. While they may have clearly defined job descriptions, I find very few leaders truly have the capability to meet people where they are. 

In other words, does a leader know:

• What's important to the employee? 
• What are their development or resource needs so they can excel at their job? 

Most leaders want people to meet the leader where they are. Ironically the leader expects people to do this without any kind of roadmap. By the way an organizational chart is not a roadmap.

Thousands of books and millions of articles about leadership attempt to define the traits and characteristics of leaders and create labels for the various types of leaders. Traits, characteristics and labels are like the streets, roads, cities and towns on a roadmap. Very important information, but it's only of value when you can accurately pinpoint where you are on the roadmap, making it easy for you to plan how to get to your destination.

Without a leadership roadmap, leaders typically wander around making it difficult for others to follow. A wandering leader (most don't know they are wandering), will not ever truly get to the heart and soul of WHEN and how authentic leadership makes all the difference. 

This infographic is a basic leadership roadmap I use with leaders. After an initial use of this infographic, it becomes easy to tailor a leadership roadmap to any leader and/or any situation. Take a moment to review before you read the rest of this blog.

How To Know The "WHEN"

A leader who understands the "when" of leadership will know the right thing to do, with the right people at the right time. This takes ongoing practice, making a leadership roadmap essential.

Yet, even with the roadmap, the "when" of leadership is like looking for the hidden image in an autostereogram. Autostereograms are computer generated 2D images that create 3D visual illusions in the brain. Sometimes you see it and sometimes you don't. It takes practice and skill to be able to consistently see the hidden images.

While any leader can look at a 2D image (what's easy to see about a situation), authentic leaders have developed the skill and knowing to consistently see the hidden 3D images (what's driving a situation). When the leader can clearly understand the how, why and what of leadership, it becomes easier for them to know when they are most likely to make a meaningful difference.

Why A Leader Struggles With The When - Low Capacity

Based upon my personal leadership experience and numerous opportunities to work with leaders at all levels, I know a leader begins to leave their struggles behind when the leader fully embraces the concept that an authentic leader is one who serves versus being served. 

The moment they become a servant-focused leader their leadership roadmap becomes like the autostereogram and the "when" becomes like the hidden 3D images. Not easy to see, but consistent practice starts producing different and meaningful results. And, other people begin to see how quality leadership makes a difference. 

No matter how much a leader knows about leadership, it is only when the leader genuinely understands that leadership competencies only make a difference when integrated with a servant-focus. When a leader has this understanding they know how and what to do, why they do it and, most importantly, the right time (when) to do it. 

Time and again, during conversations with leaders, the less their servant-focus, the lower their capacity for dealing with all the people, situations, changes and uncertainties that come with the role of leader. A leader with low capacity will struggle. It is easy to recognize a struggling leader because you will hear them make "either/or" type statements. They will say things like, "Either Joe gets with the program or he will be fired!" 

The leader's comments and opinions are typically stated as if everything is either black or white. This same leader will also have wide and abrupt mood swings. They blame others and often even appear bipolar. A leader with low capacity is easily overwhelmed and has very little self control to take time to think "gray" about a situation versus always reacting in a black or white manner. The lower a leader's capacity, the lower their ability to exercise genuine leadership competencies.

An authentic leader will be just the opposite of this "either/or" type leader. The authentic leader will be skilled at "both/and" thinking. Both/And thinking opens an authentic leader's mind to new possibilities (see the gray), making it easier to see when to do the right things. They have trained their brain to see the when, like being able to see the autostereogram 3D images, in their mind. An authentic leader will have the capacity to think through a variety of scenarios until they are able to know when to act and with whom.

How To Instantly Measure Authentic Leadership

The infographic is called a ZMap. For a leader this ZMap empowers you to quickly pinpoint which quadrant best defines your current level of leadership. Once you pinpoint where you are, it becomes easy to design your development plan to get to where you want to be. If you work with a leader, you can use this same ZMap to gain some insight, understanding and appreciation for a leader's quality of leadership.

While the topic of leadership can be a very complex discussion, this ZMap quickly cuts through all the noise. Once you know where you are it is simple to plan the journey to your destination. Authentic, sustainable leaders have developed a personal leadership roadmap though trial and error. They use it to know when to do the right thing with the right people at the right time.

A leader can use this simple ZMap to quickly develop a personal leadership roadmap much faster than the traditional leadership development processes. When you know where you are on this ZMap, you can instantly focus on what you need and know where to find or ask for the right resources to help you improve your quality of leadership.

It Begins With Being Honest With Yourself

Answer these two statements and pinpoint where they intersect on the ZMap. 

• Rank your Leadership Competencies. (Y axis) The higher your knowledge and execution of quality leadership competencies, the higher your point on the Y axis.
• Rank your Servant-Focus. (X axis) The more time you spend thinking about serving those who work with you and actually doing and being a servant leader, the further out on the X axis is your pinpoint.

Based upon where these two points intersect, what are your thoughts about where you find yourself on the ZMap and what actions do you see you need to take to get to where you want to be? 

When I work with leaders, this simple ZMap gets the two of us on the same page and engaged into a meaningful discussion that creates immediate and lasting value for the leader. More information on how to plan your leadership development journey will be shared in future blogs. 

My experience is those leaders who genuinely want to improve will take this ZMap and get started by first observing what they think, say and do - and begin making appropriate changes. This blog reviews how to become a skillful thinker.

I encourage you to do the same. You will be amazed at how quickly you begin to start thinking differently and experiencing when your leadership makes positive, meaningful differences for others.

Best to your becoming a servant-focused leader.

~ Alan Goldsberry, Author and CEO of ZFactor Group Publishing

ZFactor blog explores and discusses a variety of techniques, tools and discoveries by successful people that will assist others to achieve greater personal and professional success. ZFactor is a proprietary coaching methodology based upon the premise that successful people think and act differently. The ZFactor methodology is proven to accelerate a person's ability to think and act differently.

Research Confirms Boomers Will Be Rolled Into Their Graves

Research Confirms Boomers Are Successful At Being All Used Up

What kind of shape are you in?

A Gen Y'r +Jason Dorsey, I have met and think he is an amazingly smart and ambitious young man - and quite accomplished for his age - recently posted a +The New York Times article on LinkedIn questioning if Boomers are out of shape (article). Very appropriate for Jason to post an article like this as his business is helping corporations learn how to communicate cross-generational.

As I read the article, many thoughts rattled around. Such as, "I've stayed in decent shape by way of a little yoga and +P90X" to remembering the President's Fitness Council and the incredibly boring exercises we were forced to do in gym class to this whole fitness thing only started because a study in the 1950s said European youth were in better shape than American youth. Well, I guess the Boomers took care of that concern. Go USA!

Actually, what compelled me to post this blog is a quote from the article. 

"Boomers were more likely to use devices to assist them with walking, for example, or to have physical problems that limited their work."

As I read the quote, it's clear the researchers view this as a negative, but being a Boomer and knowing all the Boomers I know, I believe we would view this as positive because it confirms a popular Boomer motto:

"I want to have lived a big, full, rich life such that I'm all used up when they roll me into my grave." Or, as Cindy (my wife) says, "I want to come sliding into Heaven, torn and tattered yelling YEE-HAA."

It is important to note the article did not say Boomers were not walking. They are just being assisted in their walking with devices. And, it did not say Boomers have stopped working. They are only limited in their work. Sounds like Boomers are still getting the job done, no matter what gets in their way.

The research points to the fact Boomers are living longer, which means we have more opportunity to get all used up. I view that as another positive outcome of the research. Nice to know even in our 60s, we still have another 30+ years to get all used up.

It's nice to be confirmed by valid research that Boomers are accomplishing their lifetime objective to "Just roll me in my grave when I die."

Keep on walking and working Boomers. It's in our DNA to keep on trucking through the fog...

~ Alan Goldsberry, Author and CEO of ZFactor Group Publishing

ZFactor blog explores and discusses a variety of techniques, tools and discoveries by successful people that will assist others to achieve greater personal and professional success. ZFactor is a proprietary coaching methodology based upon the premise that successful people think and act differently. The ZFactor methodology is proven to accelerate a person's ability to think and act differently.