BORING OR SOARING? GREAT PERFORMERS!
by Mike Manes
IMMS Consultant Mike Manes strives to facilitate change, communication, learning, and positive results. To that end, Manes has written this powerful, substantial document that will help you build your skills and achieve your goals.
PREFACE
You’re a leader. You own or manage a business. You’re responsible for results success. Your role is multifaceted visionary, organizational architect, environmental engineer, coach, and cheerleader. You love what you do and you’re great at it. Unfortunately today you’re in a funk sad, frustrated, and confused.
Usually you’re the bright light on dark days in your organization, but today you feel blue. You can remember the enthusiasm of your first day on the job the dreams, the passion, the hope, and the energy. Today you’ve discovered that you’re an administrator. The system is now managing you; you’re not leading it. You’re the head of a bureaucracy. You’d promised yourself you’d never let this happen.
Why? What went wrong? What can be done to bring the fire back to your belly? More importantly, how can you transform your bureaucracy into an entrepreneurial venture? Reflect for a few moments. Rewind your personal life history. Go back to yesterday.
Yesterday. You remember. You were too excited to sleep. Today’s the day the circus! You, your sister, your mom, and dad are going to the circus.
You can remember the tent. It was huge. The smell of popcorn, the taste of cotton candy, the sounds the crowd, the animals, the clowns. The sawdust under your feet enhanced your experience. In the language of your youth, it was “cool.” Today you realize it was, in contemporary terms, the ultimate multisensory experience. Your heart was beating so fast!
You’re in the bleachers when you hear, “Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages, look to the center ring and focus your eyes to the top of the tent. On the high wire the greatest with no net “Your mouth was wide open; your eyes were even wider. You don’t remember breathing. She made it. No net! It was the most exciting thing you’d ever seen. You’ll never forget it. This was the greatest show on earth, and she was the greatest performer. You loved your parents.
Your mom was a teacher. Dad was a carpenter. You knew what they did. It was boring! You’d watched your friends’ parents the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. They were doctors, lawyers, and Indian chiefs. They were boring. You vowed that day to join the circus. This is what would make your heart beat fast.
You never wanted to be boring. You shared your dream of a life under the big tent with your parents they laughed. You knew your life would be spent soaring, not boring! Fast forward to today.
Today. On the way to work you passed the circus. They were raising the tent. You flashed back to yesterday. Now you’re at your office only to realize that you’ve settled in. Worse than not joining the circus, you’ve become your parents. You’re as boring as they were. You know you’re successful; you own the business (or you’re running it). You can remember the day you started the business (or the day you took it over). It was so exciting. Although you weren’t in the circus, you were operating without a net. What happened? Why?
You rock back in your chair and remember the enthusiasm of your youth. You close your eyes. You’re on the tightrope; you’re balanced. You hear the crowd but can’t look down. You can’t lose focus on your goal: the landing at the end of the wire. The sounds, the sights, the smells, the lights, the energy! This is your second chance. You’re not working; you’re performing! Today you promise yourself that you’ll soar. Never again will you settle. No more boring only soaring!
The door and your eyes open simultaneously. You rock forward in your chair and stare at your assistant. “Are you OK?” she asks.
“I’m fine, I’m fine!” you respond. You realize your heart is beating fast for a good reason. Frustration has accelerated its pace in the recent past, but this is positive. This is great. Now the only question is, How?
Tomorrow. No, you’re not selling the company or quitting your job. But you’ve committed to creating the greatest show on your Earth. You’re going to convert your team into great performers. You’re going to breathe life into this “dinosaur” that you call your organization. Don’t take this personally. Yours might be an excellent company, but that won’t help you tomorrow. The world and the marketplace are moving faster than you are.
As a committed leader your first role is to define reality. The fact is that your once “lean, mean production machine” has evolved into a bureaucracy too sleepy and self-serving to survive in the fast-moving world of tomorrow. It needs resuscitation.
What follows is the process the questions you must answer to become a great performer.
HOW HIGH WILL YOU FLY?
The first and most important is, “Are you willing and able to change to compete?” The truth about the high wire is that people only pay to see performers who do things they can’t do better themselves. Good performers can walk high above the ground. The great ones work without a net. To continue our tightrope metaphor, consider the possible scenarios:
Boring. This is the equivalent of your child’s preschool circus. Your daughter walked across a rope on the ground, and you applauded wildly. She was pleased. Only other moms and dads noticed. Results weren’t even an expectation.
In business only results count; efforts are immaterial. If you’re not getting results, you’re losing ground. Boring means you lack the willingness or ability to compete and change.
Snoring. The tightrope is actually a parallel beam about two feet above the ground and four inches wide. Though practice was required, success was virtually guaranteed. And there was zero risk. Again parents cheered, and no one else cared.
In business this means that you’re holding your own and could probably make it if the competition went away. Unfortunately that’s not going to happen. Even though you’re able to change, willingness is the issue.
Soaring. This is the professional high wire artist who will walk any wire, anytime. This person gets paid to perform and is acknowledged as a professional.
You’re a professional, with a successful business. You and your team are comfortable. You’ve reached most of your goals. You’ve worked hard. You’re tired. Its time to rest. You’ve built infrastructure the layers of management, policies, and procedures needed to guarantee future success. You’ve got great technology, your staff is technically competent, and you own the market.
Your ability is never questioned. However, you’re concerned that some members of your team are reluctant to change to venture beyond their comfort zone. The net is an asset that’s creating a liability. You’re afraid the safety net is becoming a hammock.
Adoring. This is “best of class”: the person revered by other members of the group, who will outperform any professional and always without a net. Removal of the net ensures excellence. There’s no margin for error.
In spite of being No. 1, you wake up scared to death every day. You love the trappings of success, but you’re motivated more by a fear of failure. You’re willing and able to change to the future, as well as change the future. You refuse to get comfortable. You know there’s no net. You need no other motivation.
Michael Manes can be reached at Square One Consulting, 8674 Quarters Lake Rd., Suite 10, Baton Rouge, LA 70809, (225) 922-9138, fax (225) 922-9106, e-mail [email protected], or Web site www.squareoneconsulting.com.