the art of leading

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Common wisdom and tradition suggest, roughly, the following steps when negotiating:

1. Divide the issue into manageable portions or sub-issues.

2. Among those sub-issues, find common ground.

3. Concentrate your efforts on finding solutions to those specific issues that were found in the common ground.

4. Choose the preferred alternative.

There is nothing wrong with this approach. In fact, it’s a very savvy way to go about in negotiating something. The basic principle behind this approach is that “together we can make a difference”. In other words, that the key to solving a dispute is to focus on what unites the parties, instead of what divides them.

Find un-common, not common, ground

What is often overlooked, though, is the difference in interest-level among different issues. I’m not referring here to the difference in postures regarding one particular issue. What I’m talking about is the difference in the values that each party assigns to specific topics. Let me explain.

Normally, negotiations cover a range of issues simultaneously. The nature of negotiations will require that one party concede some things in order to obtain others. The objective of each party, of course, is to have their way on most of those issues.

People assign different values to different things

But human nature and experience points to the fact that both sides won’t assign the exact same value and importance level to the exact same issues. One party will grant more importance to some topics than to others. And, that same party won’t care as much about some other topics.

So what is the significance of this small, obvious, but sometimes overlooked fact?

Well, feelings can provide for pretty good negotiation chips. Giving the benefit of the doubt on each issue to the party that most strongly feels about each particular issue will give you some leeway in getting something in return.

The key is to solve each “special high-interest” issue in favor of the party that most strongly feels about it. That way, each party achieves a “victory” without the negotiation being a zero-sum game, where one side loses when the other wins.

Get the other side to concede

The opposing party will be more willing to concede on an issue that is not too high on its priority list than if it was a very important issue for him or her. On the other side of the coin, if you granted that relatively insignificant (for you) chip, you may have created an opportunity to receive another chip in return that, while not too important for the opponent, is very important to you.

Granted, this is an oversimplified explanation. Many factors beyond the scope of this article will complicate things, making it difficult to settle a negotiation just by using this tactic. But many sub-issues of a negotiation will be more easily settled by seeking these “interest-level” opportunities.

So what changes would I make to the traditional negotiation steps?

Not many, just #2 and #3, as follows:

1. Divide the issue into manageable portions or sub-issues.

2. Among those sub-issues, find differences between the parties in terms of interest level toward each sub-issue.

3. Concentrate your efforts on finding solutions to those specific issues in which the interest level between parties varied.

4. Choose the preferred alternative.

Happy Negotiation!

Categories : Negotiation // 3 Comments »

Wanting to be a leader is a very significant step in your personal development. But if wanting is all that you do, then you’ll stay there and there will be no actual leadership to talk about. You may have a grand life-altering vision of the future, but if others don’t see it too, then that vision will never come true. So the logical action step to take after having formulated that goal would be to COMMUNICATE YOUR VISION. Only then will you be able to start shaping it into reality. Arnold Shwarzenneger, in his book The Education of a Bodybuilder, told the story of how, as a teenager, he visualized himself in front of a great audience after winning the Mr. Universe bodybuilding competition. He imagined himself as a movie star. Now, you may not agree with his politics, or you may not like his movies, but he took action. He won the Mr. Universe, he won the Mr. Olympia, he became a movie star, and he became Governor of California. How did he do this? Well, he definitely hit the gym religiously and took steps to meet people in Hollywood. But he is also known as a great communicator. He took care of expressing his goals and of making the world know what he was up to. Arnold built a true cult-like following, especially in the bodybuilding arena, that helped him to make his vision a reality. How can you duplicate those results in your own scope of influence will be the topic of the remainder of this article.

Communicate through listening

The most overlooked, but perhaps the most important, method of communication is listening. The other three are reading, writing, and talking. But those three are more than polished throughout life. That is precisely why listening skills are so important. By being a good listener you’ll be able to find many ideas to implement your action plan, that you wouldn’t have thought of yourself. You’ll be ahead of your ‘competition’, since most people don’t listen. That’s the purpose of team-building, though that would take a whole other article to expand upon. Listening is also a central part of gaining followers. Everyone likes being listened to. When you show interest in what the other person expresses, that person will be much more open to the idea of listening in turn to what you have to say. That skill sets you apart from most other people whom are simply cut off simply because they talk too much and don’t listen.

Communicate through your own actions

You can talk all you want and try to communicate solely through that method. In fact, appropriate speaking skills are very helpful to leaders who desire to communicate their visions. But if you turn around and do the opposite of what you preach, your message will be lost. “Do as I say not as I do” will not work. It’s easier for people to imitate physical actions than it is for people to go through a thought process in order to determine the ‘correctness’ of what they hear. It follows one of the most essential theories in nature: “the path of least resistance”. Don’t get me wrong, that thought process is essential in order to become a discerning human being. But it’s tough! For that reason, the most efficient way to communicate your vision is through your own actions. Become an embodiment of that vision, and soon others will copy that behavior. Don’t get too caught up in trying to be the most eloquent speaker in the world, although that certainly would be nice. When speaking, try to stir people into action, and show people how it is done instead of merely telling them.

Communicate through your own attitudes

This element of communication is somewhat tied to the previous one. Nevertheless, it is of supreme importance that you always carry a positive attitude. Again, attitudes are contagious. Haven’t you ever been very happy only to encounter a negative person and have that person ruin your day? You should develop the ability to avoid that, but it’s not easy. In the other hand, if you always carry yourself in a positive light, people are more open to imitating your actions. When they see you are convinced that your vision is worth striving for, they’ll start believing in it too, or at least be more susceptible.

Let others reach their own conclusions

Proper communication will lead people to reach conclusions. Your role as a leader is to provide all the resources that are necessary for others to make a decision for themselves. You can’t force anyone to accept your message. You may be able to make someone do something for you if you use threats, but that will only be temporary. As Dale Carnegie stated in his classic book How to Win Friends and Influence People if your communication strategy is appropriate, people will want to follow you. That is what is known as persuasion and it’s what leadership is all about. By persuading, you influence. And that is every leader’s objective.

Categories : Communication // Add Comment »

Why is it that time passes by so fast when we’re reading a great book? There’s something about it that just enthralls you into a hypnotic state of mind and sort of fall into a deep trance. When you wake up, you’re done with the book. Time was accelerated. You rode a spaceship through a black hole and ended up somewhere else, and someTIME else.

The same thing can be said about exceptional leaders. You are embedded within their ideas. You are invited to capture those ideas. A short time later you find yourself totally entranced by the shadow that they cast.

You feel what the leader feels, in the same way that a great author makes you feel what a character in the book is feeling. Or what the author himself is feeling. You let yourself go, and the leader, or the author, catches you in his or her arms to direct you. To direct you with your permission. To direct you with your complete willingness. Because you’re in their trance.

Just ask the following question to anyone who has followed such a unique leader, especially in the workplace: What was it like to work for him? I’m pretty sure a big chunk will automatically enter a trance-like state and start reminiscing of the time they spent under the leader’s wings.

They will smile and tell you, “Time passed so quickly. I would’ve loved to work for her for a longer time.”

Leaders are like books. The great ones will make time pass quickly. They will teach you life-changing lessons. They will leave you yearning for more. Poor ones will be a bore. You’ll find them tedious and insignificant. They will leave you in a state of exhaustion.

Readers will create very vivid images in their minds as the book develops. Authors created those images. Followers of a great leader will be full of creative ideas that solve problems for an organization. Leaders created those ideas.

The reason why so many authors have created revolutions, trends, and movements, I believe is due to their ability to create images in the minds of readers. They may be violent, or enjoyable, or sad, or happy, or peaceful, or calm, or quiet, or loud. But readers act out, sometimes in a subconscious way, these ideas and images. And as a result, revolutions happen. Or inventions are inspired. Or  controversies are sparked.

So to become a great leader, become a great author first. Create images in the minds of followers that will move them to act. Move people through ideas, as an author does. Make time pass by in the blink of an eye. Be an author of greatness.

Categories : Confidence, General Leadership, Goals, Personal Development, Relationships // Add Comment »

Generally, every great leader has one trait that stands out from the others. They have one characteristic that identifies them. It may be related to personality, or to leadership style, or to other areas. What many of these leaders understand that many don’t is that the way you naturally are can be used to your advantage. It is true that you should always strive for improvement and development of skills you don’t have. If you are so timid that you aren’t able to communicate, then you have a problem. You won’t be able to communicate your vision! But even if you improve that area of your life and find the courage to meet new people and have a healthy social life, you might still be a reserved person. There isn’t anything wrong with that. It took a while for me to accept that being a reserved person didn’t mean I was doomed to obscurity. Granted, I have learned how to better cope with my timidity. I realized it was holding me back in many areas. But that doesn’t mean I have to be insincere to myself as to who I really am! Learn how to embrace your true self and use your personality to your advantage as a leader. But before doing that, you need to identify what characteristic you naturally have, that may be used as your leadership ‘brand’. I recommend you ask yourself the following questions to accomplish that:

How do you solve problems?

The answer to this question may tell you a lot about your personality. When a problematic situation arises, do you prefer to go by your gut instincts to solve it? Or do you carefully gather the facts, analyze the situation and try to build consensus? Do you prefer that nobody gets hurt? Or are you totally oblivious to the consequences that your decision might have? There is no right or wrong question. Every style has its place, depending upon the situation. Neither are they exclusive of the other answer. Sometimes styles may be synergistic. But generally, most people lean toward one side more than the other. You should discover, if it’s not already obvious to you, which are your inclinations. Stay mindful of that, and trust your style.

What are you passionate about?

Your passions may communicate a lot about you. Obviously, nobody is defined by their interests or hobbies. But they’re pretty good signs. Perhaps your free time revolves around finding out the best way to jump out of an airplane in mid-flight. I might be inclined to think that you’re comfortable with taking significant risks. That attitude could definitely be an asset when acting as a leader!

What do you think you’re good at?

Your skills in various areas of life may be symbolic of characteristics you could use to develop yourself as a leader. For example, a person may be a brilliant robot-builder. Maybe that person is detail-oriented. Detail-oriented leaders definitely have a role to play in society. I understand this may be too broad of a generalization, but you should use this as a guideline.

What do others think about you?

Most times people overestimate themselves. Other times people may ignore a very positive characteristic they have. That is where family, friends, and perhaps even complete strangers come into play. Others may see things you don’t. Try to ask them about what they think you are good at. Ask them about your negative characteristics. If they’re honest and trustful, they should be of great help in assisting you in discovering potential leadership strengths.

Develop that strength

Warren Buffet, the great investor, was capable of using one very specific characteristic he had to build a multi-billion dollar business like Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., of which he is CEO, and becoming one of the richest men alive. In Buffet: The Making of an American Capitalist, author Roger Lowenstein describes how Buffet was always avert to venturing into unknown territory. Throughout his career, he has made it a central element of his philosophy to never invest in any company he doesn’t understand. That doesn’t mean he stands on the sidelines and doesn’t bother to learn, but he is careful to only invest in companies he fully understands. Another trait he is famous for is his Omaha hospitality. People are drawn to him when he talks because of that. In fact, he has a cult-like following that is characteristic of great leaders. So, once you have a pretty good idea of what are those one or two strong characteristics that are capable of catapulting you into mastering the Art of Leading, focus on them. ‘Brand’ yourself. Make it easy for others to identify you.

Categories : General Leadership, Personal Development // Add Comment »

The other day I wrote a post where I mentioned succession planning and Citigroup’s apparent lack of it. This article comes right in time: Leadership Tip - Looking Toward Tomorrow: The Succession Planning Imperative Part 1 of 2

The folks at Leadership Challenge use Oprah and her initiatives as an example of the importance of learning from past mistakes and other leadership skills. Leadership Lessons At An Early Age 

Categories : Links // Add Comment »

I guess everybody knows by now that Pat Robertson, the ultra-conservative pastor, has endorsed Rudy Giuliani for President, even when they have opposing social stances. What does this have to do with leadership? A lot, in my humble opinion. Regardless of political parties and ideology, Giuliani has demonstrated he’s very smart.

I start with the premise that a big part of leadership consists of influencing people. There are many ways to influence people, but building alliances with other opinion- and thought-leaders is a great example. Rudy has just expanded his circle of influence enormously due to Robertson’s incredible thought leadership and the amount of people that follow him.

Will this lead to an increase in polling numbers for Giuliani? 

I honestly don’t know. I guess so, but not necessarily. What is important in leadership terms is to know that building alliances with other leaders is a very effective way to increase influence, and therefore, leadership capacity. This translates very well into the workplace and to other fields. When trying to push an idea or a project through an organization, alliances with opinion leaders will help tremendously, in the same way that Robertson’s followers will certainly be more receptive to Giuliani’s ideas from now on.

Categories : Persuasion, Politics // Add Comment »

I just found this post in a blog called Workmash. It’s a nice read, and has good insight on leadership. Leadership lessons from a dog and a cat

Categories : Links // Add Comment »

It’s extremely easy to speak “after the fact”. But I have to get something off my chest: Isn’t an institution as large and respected as Citigroup supposed to have a solid succession plan? CEO Chuck Prince is no more, and there’s a big mess over who will take charge.

True leaders, or at least organizations, need succession plans. In fact, the creation of new leaders is one of the tasks that any true leader should take to heart. Surely Citi will turn out fine in the long run. But this short-term scramble wouldn’t have happened if there was a succession plan in place.

Categories : Uncategorized // Add Comment »

Last week , in Why the First 100 Days Could Make or Break Leaders, I mentioned the importance of “the First 100 Days” of a leader in a new position. In today’s post I’ll map out one possible course of action that someone might take in those first 100 days, to make the most out of them. The list was thought of in a step-by-step approach, but each item can be seen as a separate idea.

1. Ask for suggestions from present employees on what are the things that must be done. This doesn’t mean you’re going to do whatever they tell you, but it will be useful information to know what are the perceived top priorities.
2. Meet with your executives, 1 or 2 per day depending on the size of your organization. Get to know who you’ll be working with.
3. Prepare a report where you gather and analyze the information that has been gathered.
4. Take your people on a get-away to collaborate on the design of a new strategy, based on the information that has been gathered. Come away with new goals and a new strategy to achieve them.
5. Focus on communicating the new strategy to your organization.
6. Ask employees if they’re willing to work and collaborate with you in reaching new goals and following a new strategy. You need only the most willing people.
7. Re-assign or fire those who aren’t compatible with your vision.
8. Hire those who need to be hired. Use this opportunity, if given, to fill in the gaps. Do you lack sales and marketing skills? Then hire people who excel at sales and marketing.
9. Take the first step in your new strategy. You were brought here for a reason, so get to work on what you have achieved in these 100 days. You have just begun.

Whatever you do in your first 100 days, my suggestion to you is to focus on gathering information and developing a plan to synthesize and utilize that information. Whichever method you choose, that should be the most important goal.

Categories : Action, Communication, General Leadership, Goals, Relationships, Success // 4 Comments »

1. Never value your journey as a success.
People who consider the achievement of the ultimate goal as the only possible way to achieve success are perfect prospects to never be good leaders. It is a perfect way to fail as a leader. Leaders, naturally, are driven and desire to accomplish the realization of a vision. That is one of the things that characterize them. But they also are set apart because they see each step in the way to realization as a small success. If you never value your journey as a success, then you’ll end up being a very unhappy person, since you’ll have to wait a long time before you can know what ’success’ feels like.

2. Never delegate.
Successful leaders know how to delegate. So it follows that if you want to suck at leadership, you can’t delegate anything. If that’s what you want, just hoard every little detail inside your circle of responsiblity and forget about the big picture. If you try to do everything by yourself, you’ll end up with so much unimportant details that you won’t have any time or energy to dedicate to the really significant stuff such as…being a leader instead of a task administrator.

3. Never point out anything positive about the people who surround you.
This is the perfect way to sink into leadership hell. So if your goal is to be a bad leader, then you absolutely need to put this principle into play. In fact, a faster way to destroying relationships is to not only withhold compliments, but express negative comments about those who surround you. This will create resentment toward you, which means that they won’t want to follow you, or do anything that you want them to do.

4. Never consider leadership as a means.
Those who most frequently fail at the game of leadership are those who see it as a material object to be attained, instead of a means to attain something that is meaningful to society or a part of it. Successful leaders, on the other hand, get to practice leadership because they want to express themselves and their vision. They aren’t leaders just for the sake of being leaders.

5. Never think of leadership as a way to serve others.
This is a very important message to those who want to fail as leaders: just serve yourself. Become a leader out of mere self-interest and you’ll be well on your way to being a perfect failure as a leader. Great leaders have a purpose that is greater than themselves. Just do the opposite if you want to be their opposite.

6. Stump whoever is beneath you.
This is another great way to destroy your chances of failure. When you get to the “top”, just start taking those “beneath” you for granted. When you come crashing down in the future, nobody will be there to help you up, since you destroyed all those meaningful relationships with people who are now on “top” of you.

7. Never read, just watch reality shows over and over again.
Great leaders don’t stop learning. They read every type of book they can get their hands on, and take a critical point of view toward them, which will help them when analyzing real-world situations. They focus on books and even art and music that expand their critical and analytical capabilities. So, if you want to fail as a leader, it’s simple: watch every reality show out there. Those are perfect to kill your brain cells, since they not only don’t require you to think, but encourage you to be dumber. There is nothing better that you can do to decrease your critical and analytical abilities than listening to Paris Hilton or Britney Spears or some random dude talk about their dog’s nails.

8. Never mold your own environment.
If you want to do everything in your power to suck at leadership, let circumstances and your environment mold you . Truly successful leaders are those who see something they don’t like and strive to change it. They aren’t bogged down by petty day-to-day events. They go out and create their own set of favorable circumstances instead of letting the likes and wants of others destroy their visions.

9. Never fail.
This may be the most important principle to follow in your quest to leadership insignificance. True leaders come to see failures and mistakes as learning vehicles. In fact, they come to look forward to these situations, because they know that in every failure, they will find an equally significant or greater success. If you want to stay stuck at where you are right now, then don’t do anything differently. Don’t risk failing, since it will only bring you unlimited opportunities, and someone who would never want to be a leader would never want that.

Categories : Communication, Failure, General Leadership, Goals, Personal Development, Recognition, Relationships // 2 Comments »