Leaders & Employees Must Learn To Change

On Sunday the New York Football Giants pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year by beating the once-unstoppable New England Patriots. Their victory in my opinion is a great example of what can happen when there is both give and take from both a leader and those being led. You see Sunday was the antithesis of where Tom Coughlin started with this team and how he almost lost them.

Tom Coughlin is an old school. When taking over the New York program he promised to instill good old fashion discipline throughout the team. He was going to be accountable. His players were going to be accountable. He was going to manage by objective and people would be expected to rise to meet those expectations or else. Fear was the big stick and it was yielded without worry of what head it might come crashing upon.

There would no longer any special treatment for any of the players, especially their star players. Players were expected to attend all meetings without exception; something that hadn't been enforced by the previous coaching staff. In addition, players were expected to be on time for those meetings. Coughlin was so committed to demonstrating that winning begins by doing the little things perfectly that he began to fine players who were not in their seats five minutes before meetings were actually scheduled to start. Other minor infractions that would otherwise be overlooked by other teams were made a very pubic and often embarrassing example by the salty coach. If discipline and perfection wasn't going to find the New York Football Giants, he would hunt it down and capture it and force feed it to his players if need be.

It was an old school, hard nose approach that amongst today's prima donna athletes wasn't very well received. In fact, Coughlin began to have an outright revolt. Star players began to question his motivations and resented being treated like children. The New York press waited at the end of each of practice like rabid dogs looking for that bone to be tossed from the dinner table to report what players were disgruntled on that day. The Giants were going no where fast and it looked like Coughlin would likely lose his job at the end of last season.

Then something happened. He loosed up a bit. Players who had never seen him smile reported seeing him smile at practices. He joked with the players and he seemed to take more time in getting to know them not just as players, but as men. Somewhere along the way, Coughlin seemed to realize that his hard line approach was no longer working, so he changed. Although his intensity and his drive to win and win with perfection was still the call of the day, his players began to respond.

The heart beat of the team began to beat a little faster.

Great leaders today aren't afraid to admit that the strategies they have employed may not be working. They adjust on the fly and adapt and just keep moving. I think Coughlin undoubtedly saw the writing on the wall and realized he could either stay his ground, which many leaders do to prove they are absolutely right, or he could become more "flexible." Perhaps he could give an inch and in the battlefield of life and work, sometimes all the people who are being led need is an inch and they will give a mile back. Yes, I said give a mile back.

Coughlin's approach absolutely shaped this franchise into the winning organization that it is today. I have no doubt that his willingness to change his approach undoubtedly shaped his player's perception of him and the results on the field prove that. The team began to move forward collectively and began to believe in themselves, even when faced with adversity and a world of doubters. That heart beat which only months earlier had been skewed and barely audible was beginning to beat strong and fast...and as one collective beat.

I have no doubt that on Sunday both players and coach thought of those power struggles. It would have been easy for either side to give up on the other and quit. Had they done that, no one, especially the old ball coach, would have been holding that shiny Super Bowl Trophy.

No, without change on both sides, neither side would be able to call themselves Champions.

Ripple On!!!


In case your interested...here's sort of a before and after look at the transformational change within the Giants Organization.

Article One
Article Two

Visible Leadership - The Principal Lesson

My last post on visible leadership must have hit a cord as I received a number of phone calls and emails on the subject. I always love it when I hit on a subject that my readers feel passionate enough to want to dialogue about. So thank you for those of you who reached out to connect on the subject. We certainly had some great conversations and I hope you will keep em coming.

I wanted to share with you another example of visible leadership that has just stuck with me since yesterday.

I needed to work on a project that needs some severe tweaking and decided to head home for the day to put a little time in on it before both of my boys got home from school and my time would not be my own. My oldest son Zachary's school is in walking distance of our home and one of the main roads that leads into our particular subdivision is usually tended to by one of the mother's who is our dutiful crossing guard. As I reached the intersection I noticed a nicely dressed man standing guard over the crosswalk and I automatically assumed our regular crossing guard mother must be sick or busy and one of the dads was chipping in to help out.

As I crept closer to the crosswalk I slowed down and stopped as I saw out substitute crossing guard was attempting to herd a group of kids safely across. The man smiled big and waved as he entered the crosswalk and as each kid passed by he appeared to say something to each of them and offered a pat or two on the head. As the little guys and gals reached the other side of the crosswalk they all had smiles as big as Texas on their faces; not doubt a result of the positive attention they had just been given.

As the man turned and waved in appreciation again for my stopping, I noticed it wasn't some nicely dressed father being the substitute crossing guard for the day...no it was Mr. Ryan, the principal of my son's school Brushy Creek Elementary. I couldn't help it but my immediate thought was why is our school's principal doing having to do crossing guard duty? A man of his position is far too important and must have other important things to do than to do this.

Then it hit me....visible leadership!

When I reached the house I told my wife Kathy about what I had just seen and experienced. She said, "Oh Mr. Ryan does that from time to time. Our other Principal never did it but Mr. Ryan sure doesn't seem to mind helping out when and where he is needed." How cool is that? More importantly, what another fine example of visible leadership!

Visible leadership as I mentioned in my last post is the willingness to do those things that you ask others to do. I am not quite sure if the kids understand or appreciate the lesson Mr. Ryan is teaching them but Zachary now does. Everyone chips in where they are needed and Mr. Ryan's willingness to come down several blocks from the school to "pitch in" says a lot about him as a leader and steward of our children. I told Zachary he needs to appreciate how amazingly cool it is that his principal is willing to go wherever he is needed to insure that his students are able to get home safe and sound.

Mr. Ryan has shown me yet another fine example of visible leadership and how the little things actually make a big difference when it comes to being the kind of leader people want to follow and emulate. Great job Mr. Ryan!!!

So what crosswalks need tending to at your company today?


Ripple On!!!

Visible Leadership

Austin recently hired a new police chief and his name is Art Acevedo. Chief Acevedo came to Austin from California where he was the assistant chief of the California Highway Patrol. He takes over a police department that in recent years has been mired in controversy and has a significant public perception problem.

From the first day that Chief Acevedo took over he has been visible. A trait apparently that won him much fan fare within the Los Angeles community. Chief Acevedo pledged to earn the trust of the Austin public and so far he appears serious about this commitment. Most recently making public a video where a police officer stepped over the line and used excessive force to show both the police department and the public that this kind of action could and would in the future, be avoided. Furthermore, he took what I perceive to be a publicly embarrassing situation for the department and choose to use it as a training opportunity and a public omission that his officer's don't always get it right.

Visible leadership enables those that you lead to watch and see how you respond publicly. They get to see the rhetoric and motivational mumbo jumbo that is often retorted behind closed doors put out there and tested in the stern eyes of public perception. That takes guts and a real belief in one's own ability that the changes that they as a leader are expecting to make, can and will work.

Listening to the morning drive time news the other day there was a half minute story about Acevedo's desire to show more of a police presence during this upcoming holiday season. Statics have shown that alcohol related incidents increase during the holidays and that an increased police presence makes people think twice before drinking a little too much and jumping behind the wheel.

What impressed me most about this story was the fact that every available police office would be out on patrol throughout the holidays and that included the Chief himself. If I was one of Austin's finest and the boss was asking me to work and be away from my family during the holidays I might tend to be a little less upset when I looked across the parking lot and saw the big cheese himself jumping in a squad car to join the fight. That's truly putting his money where his mouth is if you ask me.

Visible leadership is more than just big words and big promises. It's about moving people enough to want to move the football from point a to point b. And yes as a leader, sometimes it means calling the play and keeping the football yourself just to show the team you can and you will. Real leadership isn't "do as I say or else." Well maybe it is by perceptionary (another Steveism ) and that's why so many organizations are seemingly mired in perpetual failure. But I contend that many a CEO and organizational leader could learn from the good example that Chief Acevedo's visible leadership is offering.

I suspect Chief Acevedo's visible leadership is creating a pretty big Ripple Effect. Not only is he getting the attention of the entire police force but it has to be getting noticed by the criminal element as well. Maybe they will think twice before deciding to pick Austin as a place to do their crime. The police officer that will catch them may very well be the Chief himself.

Welcome to Austin Chief Acevedo. I hope our paths cross one day....in a purely good way!

Ripple On!!!