Doing Different Creates Different

Many years ago, when I was an up-and-comer in the newspaper industry, I was responsible for the first San Jose Mercury News Race.
Sub-marathon events were rare.  We learned by doing and made more than our share of mistakes.  It was fun and hard work but definitely worth the effort.  With that new view of the fitness world, I began to shift my lifestyle a bit.  I was soon running short distances in my neighborhood.  Then a bit longer.  The huffing and puffing led to shedding the smokes and committing to a healthier lifestyle.

A few years later, I was running my own publishing “empire” and the stress of business start-up fever coupled with travel and raising a young family took its toll.  That led to a new stress-reducing hobby: training for triathlons.

When possible, each day I would ride my bike ten miles round-trip to a community lap pool, swim two miles and then after work run five miles…with more on the weekend.  I was addicted to the endorphin rush.

However, it wasn’t long before I realized that with work and training, I was spending less and less quality time with my family.  I was more than trim once again at my high school weight but my “hobby” had taken me over the edge.

I needed to do different to get different. I needed a new Set Point.  A Set Point is when your body (or your mind) reaches a new plateau and commits to staying there.  Scientists call it homeostasis.  When it’s not where you want to be, I call it a rut.

Last month was the stereotypical time to set new resolutions.  That’s when the commercials on TV focus on diet aids, food plans and the latest, greatest little exercise device that will shed pounds and toughen your abs by eating diet ice cream while knitting in your “Snuggie.”
That’s why in last month’s newsletter, I took the road less travelled and refrained from doing what everyone else does: Telling you to start the year with a new resolution to be a better “fill in the blank”.

I figured that it would be more appropriate to discuss this towards the end of February as most people are cancelling their new gym memberships, loading up on Pringles (Brad Pitt loads up) and popping orange M&Ms to fight off the cold and flu season.
However, I’m not going to share my new diet plan, “How you can drink more cabernet and shed pounds.”  (It’s impossible.  I’ve tried.)  No, I’m just going to share how you too can create a new Set Point for your life.  Let’s call it a Leadership Set Point.

Here’s my four-step plan:

1. Realize that you are on a plateau.

It’s axiomatic.  Change creates resistance.  Whether you are trying for a new Set Point for your mind, body or both, realize that the results will take time.  Closing the gap between your beliefs and your behaviors is tough.  It took you quite a while to create “the-you-that-is-you.”  Begin, but be patient with yourself.

2. Decide what you want.  Write it down. Focus like a laser.

I learned long ago that goals or intentions should be written down to make them more real.  Read them daily.  You need to remind yourself each day about what you want.  When you do that, the Law of Attraction will bring resources that you need right to your door.  Stay alert, the people or things that knock may not have a red flag on them.

3. Don’t just wish.  Expect.

Take little action steps each day and expect to succeed.  Don’t jump on the scale during the first week to see if you have shed any pounds or look at your bankbook to see if the millions have arrived.  Each step you take should bring you closer to your goal.  If not, see number two above.

4. Commit.

You’ve heard me say or have read here many times that “without commitment nothing changes.  Not you.  Not me.  Nothing.”  It bears repeating.  Say it to yourself aloud.

However, for those of you who can’t be swayed by a mere Four Step process, I offer the following Ten Step Leadership Diet/Exercise Plan for 2009 culled from suggestions from my Twitter Followers.  (It’s up to you if you wear a Snuggie):

1. Cut the Crap: Stop doing things that don’t really matter.
2. Get to the Meat of the Matter: Start doing more things that matter.
3. Exercise Your Power: Choose to lead in every moment of the day.
4. Sit Up and Take Notice: What are others doing for you?  Recognize them.
5. Pull Up Your Attitude: It’s always darkest before the dawn.
6.  Stretch yourself and Stay Flexible: No stretch.  No flex.  No gain.
7. Don’t be a Chicken Little: Hail doesn’t mean the sky is falling.
8. Burn More Calories by Leading: Lose 10lbs. (or more) of management fat.
9. Don’t be Cowed by Others: Be open, honest and authentic.

The Offsite Book Club

Last month the topic revolved around Abby and Charlie.  Was their situation appropriate for a business book?  Would they or wouldn’t they?
This month, a reader group from Sacramento asks:  “There are so many ‘Joes’ in our workplace we don’t know what to do.  How do we get them into the cave so they can see the light?”

Great question.

The Joe Vanderson character in The Offsite is certainly an amalgam of many people I have encountered in my career.  Joes can plop down everywhere in an organization, including the CEO chair.

All to often, when I am brought into a company to do an intervention, the CEO tells me to “go fix them.”  He/she never seems to understand that I don’t “fix” anyone and if I could, he/she would be the first I would fix.

All that can be done is to create awareness. The choice to change remains with the individual.

Joe is certainly a victim of his own thinking.  In the story, he had reached a mental plateau in his life and was in a rut.  He had taken promotion after promotion out of fear and then used fear, masked as bullying, to cover up his fear of being found out he was a poser.  In other words, fear begat fear.  He became comfortable in that world no matter what happened, including separation from his wife.

Penetrating a stonewall like Joe’s attitude takes some outside force crashing against it. That is where the Leadership Practices Inventory comes in handy.  It can act as a large wrecking ball.  Smack!

Seeing the results from his LPI brought Joe to the breaking point.  He always rationalized that none of this “phony leadership stuff” mattered, and even if it did, he would pass with flying colors.  He was very wrong.  Joe, as you may have read, sees the light in the nick- of-time. 

Unfortunately, that’s not always the way it works out.

I worked with a large group not too long ago whose chief executive wanted everyone but himself to take the LPI.  He didn’t have time in his busy schedule, according to this “boss.”  We offered to help, including having his executive assistant walk down the hall with him to get him to verbally answer the behavior questions.  The silence was deafening.

It was fear.  Pure and simple “I can’t be bothered to change and you can’t make me” fear.

So, the answer to how can we get the “Joes” in the cave is to make the Leadership Practices Inventory (or something similar) a regular part of your organizational offerings.  Please resist installing it as a part of your annual performance review or pay process.  It’s best if used as an individual self-performance plan. When used as a pay issue, people tend to play games with it.

Moreover, the LPI is much more than a “smack down” tool.  It, more importantly, is a lever to lift people up.  With a baseline of results, individuals can use it as a means to measure progress.  Personal coaching helps immensely.

Once enmeshed in the fabric of your organizational culture, The LPI can be a powerful force for change.  Through modeling the way, the instrument can show the recalcitrant “Joes” that there is a better way.  It’s not easy, nor quick, but definitely worth the effort.

Those who have taken the LPI constantly ask me “how specifically can I get better at this stuff.”  By “stuff,” they are referring to the thirty behaviors in the LPI.

My answer usually begins and ends with “practice.”  Take one or two of the LPI behaviors and consciously focus on them each day or week.  Shift and focus on one or two others the following day or week.  Practice, practice, practice.  Putting the LPI words into action is the only way to close the gap between your beliefs and your behavior.

For many other helpful tips check out what my colleague Jim Kouzes has to say.
If you would like to learn more, simply email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Have you begun your “The Offsite” learning group?  If not, begin one today and share your burning questions for next month’s issue.  Send me a note.  No, you will not win a free Snuggie.  Sorry.