Careful! Sometimes Instincts Stink

by Scott AiritamPresident, Scott Airitam's Leadership Systems, LLC

I wonder how many of you ever got hurt trying to learn to catch a baseball or softball. Really think back. I can remember taking more than one baseball to the face and head learning to catch a fly ball.  Now, watching little kids learn, I watch coaches get exasperated with those kids whose instincts tell them to turn their back on the ball.  Or, sometimes, run and get the heck out of there!

How many times have we heard that a wild animal (be it dog, bear, or otherwise wild) can smell our fear and the worst thing we can do when confronted by them is run.  But, isn't that exactly what our instincts tell us to do? I mean, crazed dog or giant bear--my brain is saying, "don't walk, RUN!"

Some people can overcome their instincts when the situation calls for it. Others cannot. The problem is that our instincts are not always correct. Yet, our brain is sending signals to our body, in exactly the same way it does when our instincts are correct. And, our body is conditioned to get a message from the brain and go with it.  The difficult part, then, is to keep the logical, rational part of our brain going during these times of perceived "danger."  People old and young, have kept their brain from making them run from softballs and baseballs.  Instead, they raise their hand and catch the ball. There have been many people who, when confronted with animals, don't run, in spite of the fear.  Instead, they calmly execute techniques that save their lives.

So, I'll give you some insight into how this works and how to apply it to your world of work.

Now, it's amazing to me how we can see, in the above examples, that instinct clearly isn't always right.  Nevertheless, we defer to instinct in our Leadership roles at work all the time.  One clear example is in my line of work.  My company is used to seeing organizations that are going through tough times cut back or eliminate training.  

This is instinctual, and bad instincts to be precise.  Think about it.  This represents the type of insticts that will make an organization extinct.

If we just consider clear need, and answer a few questions, we can see the logic behind what I'm saying here.  First of all, when is it that organizations have the higher need to increase productivity...when they are doing well or when they are having troubles?  When is it that organizations have a greater need to improve communication...when they are doing well or when they are in trouble?  When is it that organizations have more of a need to elevate their Leadership abilities...when they are doing well or when they are in trouble?  Arguably, you could answer that the need is there in both cases, but, the questions posed are clearly looking for an answer that talks about a higher need.  With that being said, here's one final question. When is an organization more likely to cut back on training its people...when they are doing well or when they are in trouble?

Instincts will tell us that we need to stop training people and just increase results when things are in trouble. Unfortunately, these instincts are wrong.  If it were that easy to turn the faucet on, why wasn't it done sooner?  Specifically, raising the level of ability, increasing knowledge, and providing additional tools for people can only help a struggling workplace.

When circumstances pin you into the corner, don't turn your back on the ball and don't try to run and hide from your problems, instead, take them head on and make the situation into what you want it to be.  This means anticipating this problem and preparing for how you want to react to it. 

From my perspective, it's frustrating to watch organizations that I've developed a relationship with decide that their investment in their people is not a priority when things become challenging for the organization.  It is difficult to argue against the "we'll just push 'em harder and faster" mentality that organization leaders sometimes move toward during the tough times. The fact is, that approach doesn't work.  Building up the people-side of business does work.

To be clear, I'm not saying that an organization shouldn't weigh its decisions carefully.  Investing in people when times are good is very smart.  When times turn, though, what I'm saying here is that many organizations pull the people-side development down to nothing.  I am saying that although that is what instinct tells us to do, it is not the smartest thing to do.

So, in our example, the counter-instinctual response would be to increase the level of training and development in an effort to counter some of the negative effects of the troubles the organization is dealing with.  During difficult times you have the opportunity to increase the efficiency, productivity, morale, and commitment of your people.  By strengthening your position instead of weakening your position during these tough times, it stands to reason you can improve your chances of coming out of those times in a better position.

Debunking Leadership Myths--Myth #2

by Scott Airitam
President, Scott Airitam's Leadership Systems, LLC
www.leadeshipsystemsonline.com

Ok, so somewhere along the line I was asked to be Chair-Elect of the Rowlett Chamber of Commerce.  And, logic tells me that somewhere along the line, in a moment I can't quite recall with any certainty, I said, "Yes."  Now, don't get me wrong.  I really feel like it's an honor to have been asked, and, just as much an honor to serve, but with my work schedule, my volunteer activites outside of the Chamber, and my commitment to my family and social life (big believer in balance here) I don't know how I was thinking I was going to do this.

The Chamber's situation is challenging because of the growth the city is going through and the need to change how things are done at the chamber to keep up.  It reminds me of a job I had.  I started with a company, AMX Corp., as the Director of Business Capabilities.  My job was to create a business savvy core of Leaders within the organization as it grew from a $40 million dollar company to a $100 million dollar company.  To do this, I was to create a training process, an internal consulting organization, and an on-the-job training process under the umbrella of a department called Business Capabilities.  It was a challenging job, but a great job and I had immediate success.  The real challenge came when I was asked to take over the AMX University, which was responsible for the technical training of customers, product distributors, dealers, and AMX staff.  Being a technical firm, this was a critical position because it affected the ability and desire of people to both sell and buy our product. The problem was that the AMX University had a number of deeply rooted cultural challenges when I took over--much like the Chamber.

Now, at AMX, taking over AMX University meant taking the Leadership reigns of a group of people who's skill sets were quite different from my own and who's ideas about work were vastly different than mine.  I knew the world of training and I knew how a training organization should be run, but I didn't understand the technical aspects of the programming language or the hardware, which were the very things we were training.  Because I didn't understand all of those technical aspects I also did not really get the AMX University employees or customers who lived in that world every day.  And, here I was expected to Lead them.

This brings us to a very common Leadership Myth.  Leadership Myth #2 is: To be a great Leader, one must be competent in every aspect of the work the followers are asked to do.  I will admit, that it helps to have that competence.  It is not a requirement, though.  

In truth, great leaders understand the mission and how to influence their people.  Great leaders command respect.  I gained the respect of my high-tech staff at AMX University because I was willing to go the extra mile to ensure the mission was accomplished.  When I demanded the same of them, it was difficult for that group to avoid accountability for working to the standards I set. An example of this is when a trainer quit on a Friday and we had a programming class starting on a Monday.  All Friday I worked in vain to find someone qualified to teach the session.  I tried rearranging schedules and I tried borrowing people from other departments.  When none of it worked out, what do you think I spent all day Saturday and all day Sunday doing?  Making myself qualified to lead the session.  The session was three days long and people flew in from all over the world to take it.  I led the session.  It wasn't perfect, but it was successful and my team recognized that I was willing to do whatever it took to make sure we achieved our goals--even when the situation seemed impossible.  Within a year of me taking over the AMX University, it was a department that people wanted to transfer to, not the other way around.

So, now I look to Lead the Chamber of Commerce for my home city, Rowlett.  I do not have all of the skills the 18-person board of directors will bring to the table for us to meet our goals.  I can't claim all of those competencies.  I can be a great Leader to them, though, allowing them to do work they can be proud of and work that is meaningful.  I can lean on them, creating value in what each brings to the table.  This creates commitment.  This creates the want to do in followers and it allows me to completely refrain from trying to be a dictator telling them what they have to do.  With that, I look forward to Leading a Chamber of Commerce that achieves great things.