I recently had the privilege of working with an executive leadership team in Denver, Colorado. As with most of my sessions, the task was to get everyone on the same page and moving in the same direction. While I’ve conducted hundreds of similar sessions over the course of my career, I must confess that I still tremble as to whether the sessions will ‘take.’ By that I mean, will the participants both learn from and act on the many truths uncovered in these sessions. Essentially, will they come out better, more results-oriented leaders?
This session in Colorado was similar to most. After an intense, all-day session, everyone appeared to have netted at an extremely positive place. There was a healthy sense of transparency. Leaders were owning up to both their strengths and their pitfalls. More importantly, they were actually becoming comfortable with being vulnerable with one another. And all knew there was a lot of work to be done quickly pertaining to leading their people and taking ‘care of the company.’
As usual, I was hopeful that this group would own up to the ‘hard work’ and embrace the changes necessary to become better leaders, peers and people. But what happened after this session totally blew me away!
A Simple FYI Email Rocked My World
Fast forward a few weeks and I receive an ‘FYI’ email from the leader of the executive team. I open it expecting to find some sort of update or question. Instead, it was a compilation of one of the team member’s favorite leadership ‘one-liners’ from the pre-session reading of my leadership book, Many Parts, One Body. What!
Apparently, this individual had truly ‘taken to heart’ the ‘aha moments’ from this session and wanted to share them with his leadership team. Now, mind you, this is an executive chartered with helping run a multi-billion dollar company so it’s not like he’s sitting around with lots of time on his hands!
To say I was humbled – by what I consider to be one of the highest compliments ever – is an absolute understatement. Moreover, I knew at that very moment that this team was on its way. The session ‘took!’
I always find it interesting as to which concepts resonate with others. I thought you might also. It is my honor to publish Jim’s Top 25 Leadership One-Liners from his reading of Many Parts, One Body.
So ‘here’s to your health,’ as chronicled by this pro-active, servant leader.
Excerpt of the Email sent to his peers…
You are the beneficiary of my new shorter commute (more time in the office), a recent inexplicable bout of insomnia (I can’t “Blame Seymour” anymore), and a Leader training session with organizational consultant Rubi Ho. Put all that together and you get my notes on Ho’s book “Many Parts, One Body.”
The book is a very easy read – straightforward language and solid principles. It’s not super long either. I actually started it in the Denver airport and finished it by the time I landed in Cleveland.
Enjoy!
Jim
Jim’s Top 25 Leadership One-Liners from Many Parts, One Body – Healthier Leaders, Healthier Teams, A Healthier You
- Many Parts, One Body: Strive to act and live as one in everything you do.
- Organizations that aren’t both internally and externally healthy will eventually implode if nothing active is being done about it.
- Companies focus on financial health because it is tangible and easy to measure. The financial health of a company is not a reliable indicator of the internal health of a company.
- In most cases, the rise of unhealthy situations boils down to three parts: people, performance, and processes.
- The purpose of this book is to help you become an advocate for organizational health in your workplace.
- My hope by sharing some of my experiences is to help you realize that the grass is not greener on the other side. The same relative issues, problems, and challenges exist everywhere.
- If I have a broken foot, I can’t just say “to hell with the foot” and ignore the problem. Similarly, if an organization is not healthy on the inside, it can’t ignore the problem.
- Who couldn’t be healthier?
- Sometimes just slowing people down, having them sit face-to-face, and focusing them on nothing else but resolving the conflict is the only solution you need.
- Without a conscientious, concerted effort by everyone to promote and foster interdependence, conflict cannot be avoided, resulting in gaps and differences all over the place.
- It is all too easy for employees to focus on their role and nothing else, to lose sight of the big picture, especially if they’re not the one who’s actually paying the bills.
- There are three areas to performance that make for a complete individual: functional, leadership, and business performance. The reality is that most of us tend to only play where we are comfortable. And most of the time, it is solely in the functional area.
- Without leadership performance, you have multiple “all about me and my priorities” organizations where things get done, but separately.
- Strictly functional performers do not help organizational health; they hinder it.
- When there is no thought put into how one’s decision or action impacts the other moving parts of the company, unhealthy atmospheres are created.
- Strategic Leadership Health Model
- A model that fosters an environment where everyone understands where the business is heading and what their part is in maintaining, optimizing, or growing it.
- Interdependence is promoted, and people are held accountable for their performance.
- In the realm of communication competence, you not only improve your communication skills but become a champion for healthy communication.
- Communication competence starts internally, before you utter a word or write down a thought.
- Communication competence comes from awareness, understanding, empathy, self-control, and discipline around what you are going to say and how you’re going to say it.
- Communication competence also requires remaining objective and centered, no matter the reaction or response that you receive.
- Leadership is earned and not granted.
- You earn leadership by developing relationships, empowering others, understanding people, and proving through your performance.
- We have no right to hold people accountable if the proper criteria aren’t in place for them to be accountable, especially around their behavior.
- He aspired to higher roles in the organization, but he had not cultivated any potential successors for his current role.
- Addressing issues early stacks the odds in your favor.
- Your role, and everyone’s role, is to become a champion of organizational health.
- Unless you work in a cave, you cannot separate yourself from the organizational health of your company. You can either become part of the movement to make it better or you can be subject to the conditions of it.
I’d Love to Hear What Resonated with You
Share with me the points that resonated with you by responding to this blog or emailing me at [email protected].
Or if you still don’t have my book and want to read it, let me know. I’ll arrange for a complementary download. Happy reading to all!
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Regards,
Rubi
