Not by Might or Size

Growing up on a central Pennsylvania farm afforded many opportunities to learn life lessons that might otherwise have been missed. The birth of animals was such an occasion. Sometimes these miracles were uneventful and other times they required human intervention. For example, a brood sow generally gives birth to a litter of piglets and it wasn’t unusual for one to be smaller and more vulnerable than its siblings. These runts required special care in order to survive.

Left on their own a runt piglet will likely die from malnourishment, hypothermia, or accidental trampling. To improve these odds, we moved these runts from the uncertain confines of their pens into the solitary, warm environment of a makeshift nursery in our house. A cardboard box and heat lamp provided the shelter. Feeding them from a baby bottle offered needed sustenance. Without this personalized attention a runt’s chance of survival was quite small. Our nurture allowed each runt to grow into a healthy pig.

In our corporate and social settings there is clearly a bias toward those who are strong and smart. We honor athletic and intellectual achievements at every level. Those persons who appear smaller or weaker tend to be marginalized or ignored. Without nurturing relationships or personalized care how are they to succeed? Like the runt piglet on our farm these vulnerable employees and members of society need our attention and advocacy.

Leaders who evaluate others purely on the basis of appearance or first impressions seems much like singling out the runt of a litter. We judge by size or might instead of inward character and talent. The runts we raised on the farm were often feisty fighters whose will to survive was strong. Those piglets simply needed an early helping hand. How many of your employees long for less of your judgment as a leader and more of your attention and care?

It’s quite easy to laud the success of a highly competent teammate and overlook the steady performance of a less visible colleague. What right do we have as leaders to pick and choose based on might or size? Maybe we should celebrate the runts instead of wishing everyone was the best of the litter.

Believe and See

Dewitt Jones is one of America’s top professional photographers. He spent twenty years with National Geographic, photographing stories around the globe and earning a reputation as a world-class photojournalist. Jones has also produced a wonderful video titled “Celebrate What’s Right with the World.” In it he makes this profound assertion, “When we believe it, we’ll see it.” On his many photo assignments, Jones practiced this simple mantra and was able to capture amazing images wherever his travels took him.

Our world seems obsessed with what is wrong and many of our political, business, and religious leaders focus all their energy on fixing problems. This approach is concerned with making a diagnosis and then prescribing a treatment that will hopefully make everything better. What would happen if those same leaders chose a different path? What if they attempted to discover what is already working; to believe that the human spirit is capable of rising beyond any current challenges? Could believing in each other, and our own abilities to solve problems, allow us to see a new future?

I am a member of a Christian business organization called Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) that for many years has practiced what Jones espouses. They have invested millions of dollars in micro-loans to thousands of poor business entrepreneurs in some of the most difficult economic and political climates around the world. They believed these people were trustworthy and would repay their obligations with a fair interest rate. The success of their model has spawned many similar efforts. Instead of lamenting what was wrong, MEDA celebrated what was right.

Believing enough to see the possibilities won’t work if we practice a scarcity mentality; if our need to win or concern for protecting market share is foremost in our thinking or actions. We must imagine that the world holds abundance beyond our imagination; that nature is more beautiful than we see on the surface; that people have more potential than we give them credit for. Only under these circumstances will we begin to uncover the best of ourselves and our world.

Leaders make choices every day. Some of them would say that’s what they are being paid to do. Yet many of these choices are not inspiring and do little to make the world or their workplace better. So why not try a grand experiment and come to work each day expecting to find the best in your people, in your customers, and in your vendors? Might this simple shift in thinking encourage you to see them differently; to imagine a different future?

By celebrating what is right with your world; by expecting the best from yourself and others; the vision you are seeking will appear right before your eyes. No camera required.

Tongue-Tied

As a facilitator and trainer I have worked hard over the years to hone my skills as a speaker. I pay attention to the words I use, how they are delivered, and even my body language. Audiences notice when a speaker stammers, includes lots of “and uhs”, or fidgets with the change in their pocket. I sometimes feel like we judge teachers and speakers more harshly than we should.

If it sounds like I’m whining maybe I should just get to my point. There is nothing quite as challenging as keeping our tongues in check. I know the tongue is just a muscle in my mouth yet it has the power to offer both praise and criticism; to spout words of love or hate; to calm a situation or ignite emotional fires. Every reader of this blog has experienced first-hand the power of their tongue.

Leaders have many opportunities to model discipline with their tongues yet many never seem to grasp the full impact of their words. I have observed managers calling out a colleague in a meeting without realizing how hurtful their message was. Our political climate is filled with rhetoric that stokes passions on both the left and the right. Sports figures and celebrities are often caught on camera making comments that cheapen their image. The challenge of taming our tongues touches every level of our society and often begins with the environment we witness in our homes and local communities.

While I don’t have a quick prescription for this systemic problem I would offer one piece of advice. Perhaps leaders could learn something from the nervous public speaker who walks on stage and simply can’t say what they had planned. I have been tongue-tied on a few occasions myself and have felt the sting of embarrassment that accompanies these situations. Yet wouldn’t it be better if leaders practiced more self-discipline with their tongues in order to model restraint or practice humility?

By forcing themselves to be tongue-tied, leaders would have more time to think about the context of their words and how they could be interpreted by others. They might learn more about the situation because they are listening intently instead of speaking. Their responses could be more insightful because they have decided to speak the truth instead of offering empty platitudes or excuses.

A tongue-tied leader might be the best thing that could happen in our age of 24-hour news and entertainment cycles. There is already enough noise in the marketplace. What we need is some thoughtful dialogue and adult conversation about the pressing issues of our day. That can’t happen if we snarl at our opponents, search for the pithiest sound bite, or boast confidently about what we would do differently. A humble leader would most likely be tongue-tied (at least for the moment) and that could give everyone a chance to stop and think before they speak. Maybe then they would say something actually worth listening to.

Abundance

Since the dawn of time humans have been in competition - for food, water, shelter, natural resources, even mates. Many of us have grown up with the understanding that if we are not the hunter we will be the hunted. Today’s helicopter parents look for every edge in raising their children, assuming that entry into the best universities is a contest between only the strongest and fittest intellects. Leaders regularly think and act as though their business must be the aggressor or it will lose valuable market share. Personally, many of them are only too happy trashing the reputation of opponents in their effort to win at all costs. Our current political scene is making my argument seem quite compelling.

But what if our paradigm was misguided, or even dead wrong? Suppose instead of basing our plans and actions on a scarcity mentality we learned to recognize abundance in our world? Before I make my case, don’t assume that those persons living in the poorest neighborhoods or nations are there because of the wrong mindset. The lack of basic needs is a real problem and in many places resources, like water and food, are scarce. We can’t fix poverty just by imagining it doesn’t exist.

Yet we regularly underestimate the persistence and will of the poorest people to overcome obstacles. A micro loan that includes a fair interest rate is a proven method for changing the lives of millions of poor people. If we practice only a scarcity mentality that believes such loans are too risky then we will never invest. However, when we adopt an abundance mindset we work with what is before us and see the poor as ready, willing, and able to help themselves when they have access to capital and markets for their goods and services.

Nature is one of the best examples of abundance versus scarcity. A walk through any woods or meadow is like a never ending feast for the senses. Everywhere one looks there is an abundance of beauty. Each flower or tree invites us to pause and enjoy. A closer look will often result in even greater beauty. The tiniest seed can be breathtaking.

If leaders would acknowledge the abundance they already have then it would become more difficult to complain and offer excuses for what is missing. When I believe the world has lots to offer me why should I feel like others are luckier or smarter and that is why they are successful? If winning is so important perhaps your definition needs to be revisited. A lost promotion doesn’t have to end a career, it could start another one.

The real reason we may have such a struggle with scarcity and abundance is because we are too driven by our wants and not our actual needs. My inventory of wants is pretty long but I probably don’t really need most of what is on that list. My wants won’t make me happier or grant me greater satisfaction. How different would your life be if you stopped viewing the world as a zero sum game to be won or lost? Perhaps a walk in the woods could help you answer that question.

Imagining the Future

About six months ago my wife and I visited Montpelier, the lifelong home of James Madison, Father of the Constitution and fourth President of the United States. This weekend we made a return trip with our adult son, who had never been to the site. On both occasions we toured the home, ironically with the same entertaining and well-informed guide. While there is much I could write about the history and significance of this landmark estate, one room in the home is where I will focus my reflections.

The second floor of Montpelier is home to Madison’s personal library. Today the well-lit room is empty, except for rows of benches and a modern LCD flat screen monitor on the south wall. Visitors are treated to a three minute audio-visual presentation about the writing of the U.S. Constitution. In Madison’s time the library was crammed with hundreds of books in multiple languages that Madison researched in his quest to create a new form of government that would guide a young nation into an uncertain future. What struck me as I heard the story for a second time was Madison’s ability to analyze two thousand years of political thought as recorded in these volumes and use them to imagine a future for his country.

By the time Madison wrote the basic framework for a constitution he was already well-educated and had some experience as a Virginia legislator. The nation was being governed under the original Articles of Confederation but it was obvious they were too weak and ineffective to stand the test of time. Madison envisioned something more innovative that could harness the country’s independent spirit without trampling the liberties its citizens had fought so hard to secure. He spent five months researching political thought, philosophy, and theology to discern the best and worst of recorded history.

We know his final model featured a limited central government with three branches designed to provide checks and balances of power. The Republic he imagined would delegate nearly all powers to the independent states. Later Madison would help draft a Bill of Rights, the first amendments to the new constitution, to further explain the citizen’s liberties under this new form of representative government.

Imagining a new future begins with existing ideas and experiences. Madison context included his childhood upbringing, his education and mentoring at the hands of enlightenment thinkers, the writings of hundreds of thought leaders, his moral and religious beliefs, and his connection to the farming environment where he made his home.

Although diminutive in stature and somewhat reserved in public, Madison was undeterred in sharing his imagined future at the first Continental Congress. His research and detailed notes made it easier to argue compellingly for his position and to mediate differences with political foes. Madison never shied away from opposing points of view. Instead, he used these conversations to further sharpen the vision of our nation that he was imagining. Eventually his innovative model was embraced by the delegate body and ratified as a new governing framework.

Many of our business and political leaders regularly offer their visions for the future of their company or our country. Unfortunately many of these imagined futures lack the substance required for them to actually be implemented. Madison took the necessary time to carefully research his ideas. He formulated a strategy for sharing his vision that could be understood by his fellow convention delegates. As an astute listener and skilled negotiator, Madison didn’t rush the process but patiently shepherded his imagined future through the many iterations required so it could be unanimously accepted.

Perhaps there are only a handful of leaders with the intellect and tenacity of Madison who can imagine a new future for an enterprise or a nation. Or might it be that too many of us lack the discipline, patience, and moral beliefs to begin the process in the first place? Are we simply content to accept the status quo rather than reinvent or imagine something new? Madison would surely be disappointed.