by Dr. Cecil Clements (12th February 2013)
I was thinking about different leadership issues and how organizations were affected by the kind of leadership that is provided. I remembered an old adage that says, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” There is so much wisdom in that one line, as pithy proverbs go. They are lines pregnant with information. Let that stay at the top of our talk this morning. I want us to look at leadership tips that come from a couple of people.
Jim Collins influenced a man called August Turak who offered 6 leadership tips that he had learnt from Jim Collins. These are worth thinking about.
I was thinking about different leadership issues and how organizations were affected by the kind of leadership that is provided. I remembered an old adage that says, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” There is so much wisdom in that one line, as pithy proverbs go. They are lines pregnant with information. Let that stay at the top of our talk this morning. I want us to look at leadership tips that come from a couple of people.
Jim Collins influenced a man called August Turak who offered 6 leadership tips that he had learnt from Jim Collins. These are worth thinking about.
- Never work on more than 10 things at a time: Create that list of 10 things and when you get done with one, look at what’s at number 11 and bring that into the top 10. But always keep focused on those 10 things.
- Let fires burn. Keep yourself focused. There will always be multiple fires all around that need putting out. But it may not necessarily be you that needs to put them out. So keep your focus on what it is that you need to do.
- Interview constantly. No matter how busy Jim Collins was, he interviewed at least three people every Friday morning. The mantra was this: “It’s better to screen them in rather than screen them out.” Every time you had to hire just because somebody had left or got fired, you had to move very quickly and had to take what came to you.
- Move quickly. Always take advantage of the ‘honeymoon period’. When you take a new job, hire somebody, fire somebody, rearrange the furniture, but whatever you do, do it fast.
- Don’t burn your bridges. If you feel that you are in a job that is not fit for you, then look out and find another job and leave amicably. Don’t stay there and become the disgruntled employee that people are so happy you finally left. As Collins put it, “Always go out with a party and a referral rather than a collective sigh of relief.”
- Don’t procrastinate firing someone. If you know that a person is just not working out, then you’ve got to replace that person, because you are doing that person a whole lot of good. If they are not functioning at the place they are in, then they need to be in another place. Maybe they can’t take that decision and you help that process.
August Turak says that this last tip was the most difficult for him and he always rued the decision not to do something like that.
As I looked at these 6 leadership tips from Jim Collins, I was reminded of Peter Drucker who said, “It is always easier to move from a not-for-profit organization in leadership into the corporate world than to move from the corporate world and lead in a not-for-profit organization. The key is that in a not-for-profit organization, relationships are very important. The way you act is very important. The values you have are very important.”
Jim Collins was writing a forward for ‘Hesselbein On Leadership’. He quotes Harry Truman who says, “Leadership is defined as the art of getting people to do what they might not otherwise do, and to like it.”
Jim Collins talks about Frances Hesselbein who was so instrumental in the Girl Guides in the US and how she transformed that organization. He says that the phone would ring and he would hear her voice at the other end and she would start by saying, “Jim, I was hoping that you might consider….” Or, “The foundation would so value…” Or, “It would be wonderful if you would think about…” Jim Collins says, “Even before I heard what she was asking me to do or be, I knew that I would very likely say yes. I also knew that I was going to like it.”
He says that there were so many leadership lessons that he learnt from Hesselbein. He puts that down by pointing out these leadership lessons and I think it’s so different from the way corporate leadership works sometimes. But they are so important for us to understand.
I think that it would be good for us to blend or merge these 2 levels of leadership, both in the corporate world and in a not-for-profit organization, and see whether you can come up with one that will really work.
Hesselbein used to say, “I’m never at the top of the organization,” although she led the organization. “I’m not at the top; I’m at the center of the organization.” When describing her organization structure to a New York Times reporter, she put a glass at the center of a lunch table and created a set of concentric circles radiating outward – plates, cups, saucers – connected by knives, forks and spoons. “I’m here,” she said, pointing to the glass in the middle. “I’m not on top of anything.”
What she faced, was what a lot of leaders face: decaying old-line corporations, declining market share, dissatisfied customers, economic weakness, and even hostile takeover threats. These are things that leaders face everyday. That’s what she faced in her Girl Guides organization. The way she handled it was so beautiful. She said, “One of the central things that you need to understand as you look to change something, you need to understand what should never change.” What are things that are fixed anchors or guiding principles around which other things can change more easily? In your organization you need to know what are things that cannot be changed. So she was able to have the discipline to say no to changes and opportunities that did not fit the central mission that she was about.
As Collins says, “She understood that to do good, did not mean doing all good.” You need to be able to know exactly what it is that you are doing within the mission that you are working with. So she would say:
As I looked at these 6 leadership tips from Jim Collins, I was reminded of Peter Drucker who said, “It is always easier to move from a not-for-profit organization in leadership into the corporate world than to move from the corporate world and lead in a not-for-profit organization. The key is that in a not-for-profit organization, relationships are very important. The way you act is very important. The values you have are very important.”
Jim Collins was writing a forward for ‘Hesselbein On Leadership’. He quotes Harry Truman who says, “Leadership is defined as the art of getting people to do what they might not otherwise do, and to like it.”
Jim Collins talks about Frances Hesselbein who was so instrumental in the Girl Guides in the US and how she transformed that organization. He says that the phone would ring and he would hear her voice at the other end and she would start by saying, “Jim, I was hoping that you might consider….” Or, “The foundation would so value…” Or, “It would be wonderful if you would think about…” Jim Collins says, “Even before I heard what she was asking me to do or be, I knew that I would very likely say yes. I also knew that I was going to like it.”
He says that there were so many leadership lessons that he learnt from Hesselbein. He puts that down by pointing out these leadership lessons and I think it’s so different from the way corporate leadership works sometimes. But they are so important for us to understand.
I think that it would be good for us to blend or merge these 2 levels of leadership, both in the corporate world and in a not-for-profit organization, and see whether you can come up with one that will really work.
Hesselbein used to say, “I’m never at the top of the organization,” although she led the organization. “I’m not at the top; I’m at the center of the organization.” When describing her organization structure to a New York Times reporter, she put a glass at the center of a lunch table and created a set of concentric circles radiating outward – plates, cups, saucers – connected by knives, forks and spoons. “I’m here,” she said, pointing to the glass in the middle. “I’m not on top of anything.”
What she faced, was what a lot of leaders face: decaying old-line corporations, declining market share, dissatisfied customers, economic weakness, and even hostile takeover threats. These are things that leaders face everyday. That’s what she faced in her Girl Guides organization. The way she handled it was so beautiful. She said, “One of the central things that you need to understand as you look to change something, you need to understand what should never change.” What are things that are fixed anchors or guiding principles around which other things can change more easily? In your organization you need to know what are things that cannot be changed. So she was able to have the discipline to say no to changes and opportunities that did not fit the central mission that she was about.
As Collins says, “She understood that to do good, did not mean doing all good.” You need to be able to know exactly what it is that you are doing within the mission that you are working with. So she would say:
- The opportunity must fit squarely in the middle of the mission. Whatever activity or opportunity you have, it must fit squarely into what you are about in your company.
- The enterprise must have the capability to execute on the opportunity better than any other organization. You should be able to do what you are doing better than anybody else can. Otherwise, leave it to somebody else to do.
- The opportunity must make sense within the context of the economic engine and resources of the institution. It must make sense within the things that you have, the resources and people that you have, the relationships that you have nurtured.
Hesselbein said about the Girl Scouts, “We are here for only one reason: to help a girl reach her highest potential.” So clear, so succinct!
Finally she said, “Relationships are what matter. Relationships run as the common thread in everything that happens in a mission.” Sometimes we forget it. We think that the ultimate bottom line or profits or things like that are important. Yet, it is the relationship that is fostered in your team, in the group, in the company, that will really only matter. At the end of the day, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If there’s a weak link in the chain that is there because the relationship hasn’t fostered, that will be where you will find that your strength is getting drained.
I was challenged as I thought about all these issues on leadership, but even more strongly challenged about adding the not-for-profit things that Hasselbein talks about in leadership to where you are in your corporate worlds. The central thing is to be able to come with humility, to see yourself as the center around which a lot of things function and not at the top, looking down on people, to be able to foster relationships. Take the time to be able to have strong relationships. I hope that this is something that you will think about. What is the weakest link in your chain in the office? Have you spent the time in trying to build a relationship with that weakest link?
Let me pray with you. Almighty God. You have made us as relational beings. You have made us as ones who work together, come together, love each other, like each other sometimes, have to work with each other even if we don’t. But Lord, help us to see people around us as ones that we need to help nurture to be at their very beat, to be able to look at everybody around us and say, “Can I allow them to reach their highest potential?” That will only come as we look at relationships in a new light. Help us to do that today. I ask for wisdom for each one of these precious ones on this call. Give us wisdom to be able to lead well. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Finally she said, “Relationships are what matter. Relationships run as the common thread in everything that happens in a mission.” Sometimes we forget it. We think that the ultimate bottom line or profits or things like that are important. Yet, it is the relationship that is fostered in your team, in the group, in the company, that will really only matter. At the end of the day, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If there’s a weak link in the chain that is there because the relationship hasn’t fostered, that will be where you will find that your strength is getting drained.
I was challenged as I thought about all these issues on leadership, but even more strongly challenged about adding the not-for-profit things that Hasselbein talks about in leadership to where you are in your corporate worlds. The central thing is to be able to come with humility, to see yourself as the center around which a lot of things function and not at the top, looking down on people, to be able to foster relationships. Take the time to be able to have strong relationships. I hope that this is something that you will think about. What is the weakest link in your chain in the office? Have you spent the time in trying to build a relationship with that weakest link?
Let me pray with you. Almighty God. You have made us as relational beings. You have made us as ones who work together, come together, love each other, like each other sometimes, have to work with each other even if we don’t. But Lord, help us to see people around us as ones that we need to help nurture to be at their very beat, to be able to look at everybody around us and say, “Can I allow them to reach their highest potential?” That will only come as we look at relationships in a new light. Help us to do that today. I ask for wisdom for each one of these precious ones on this call. Give us wisdom to be able to lead well. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Resources
- August Turak, "6 Leadership Tips from Jim Collins." http://www.forbes.com/sites/augustturak/2012/08/16/6-leadership-tips-from-jim-collins/
- Frances Hesselbein, "Hesselbein on Leadership." Taken from the Foreword by Jim Collins. http://www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/hesselbein.html
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