William Wu Personal Blog

During the holiday travel, I ran into a fascinating book Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up by Patricia Ryan Madson.  It highlights a lot of what I consider essential for building up a great culture of a young company.

The book argues that human beings are improvisers by nature.  All conversation - indeed, all natural speech, if you think about it - is an improvisation.   Improvisation “is a way of doing things that emphasizes a flexible mind and a sense of humor; it is not a scientific method.”  Observing from her teaching experience as a Stanford drama faculty and head of the Stanford Improvisers, Ms. Madson describes her improvising group, ”everyone seems to say ‘thank you’ often, and ‘I’m sorry’ slips naturally off the tongue.  We smile and laugh a lot. . . . We make mistakes, sometimes whoppers. We correct them or we capitalize on them.  We notice how much others are doing for us.  We have fun. We screw up; we apologize. We get on one another’s nerves sometimes. We move on. We create life and art together.” Image how a wonderful esprit de corps that a young company can learn from!

13 maxims, as presented in the book, summarize how the principles learned from improvisers can be applied to entrepreneurs as well:

First Maxim: say yes

Saying yes is an act of courage and optimism; it allows you to share control instead of saying no to attempt to control the future.  This yes calls upon our capacity to envision, to create new and positive images.  

• Become a “can-do” person.
• Look for the positive spin, for what is right.
• Substitute “Yes and” for Yes but.” 
• Add something to build the conversation.

Second Maxim: don’t prepare

The point is to let go of our ego involvement in the process. Sometimes the habit of excessive planning impedes our ability to see what is actually in front of us. The mind that is occupied is missing the present.

• Attend carefully to what is happening right now. 
• Allow yourself to be surprised. 
• Trust your imagination. 
• Fear is a matter of misplaced attention. 

Third Maxim: just show up

So often it is our presence alone, rather than some special ability, that makes the difference.

• Motivation is not a prerequisite for showing up. 
• Use rituals to get things going. 
• Change your vantage point and refresh your mind. 
• Be on time for the sake of others.

Fourth Maxim: start anywhere

When you don’t know where to start, begin with the most obvious thing, whatever is in front of you because all starting points are equally valid. They begin where they are, often in the middle.

• All starting points are equally valid.
• Begin with what seems obvious.
• Talk to you audience. Don’t give a lecture.
• Trust your mind.

Fifth Maxim: be average

When you try to be perfect, the result is often to jinx it.  Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of good.

• Close enough is perfect.
• Dare to be dull.
• Think “inside” the box.
• Celebrate the obvious.

Sixth Maxim: pay attention

What we notice becomes our world.  Enjoy those moments when your attention is aligned with your actions.

• Shift your attention from yourself to others.
• Keep on waking up.
• This moment happens only once. Treasure it.
• Avoid multitasking. Attend to one thing at a time.

Seventh Maxim: face the facts

Life is about balancing, not about being balanced.

• Accept other people as they are. 
• Work with what you have been given. 
• Insecurity is normal. Count on it.

Eighth Maxim: stay on course 

Use the litmus of purpose when overwhelmed with feelings or confused about a decision.

• Every improvisation has a point.
• Keep an eye on where you are going.
• Ask often: “What is my purpose?”

Ninth Maxim: wake up to the gifts 

Our natural sense of entitlement can be an obstacle. If we experience something as ours, we won’t see it as a gift.  We need to see the contributions of others in bold relief and to recognize our interdependence. 

• Who or what is helping your right now?
• Make a point of thanking those with thankless jobs.
• What are you doing to give back?

Tenth Maxim: make mistakes, please

Do something risky and challenging, something out of your comfort zone, where mistakes are possible (and likely), and to proceed boldly.  Knowing that mistakes are inevitable, and admitting them freely, demonstrates courage and character.

• When you screw up, say “Ta-dah!” and take a bow.
• Mistake? Focus on what comes next.
• Become a confident mistake maker. Lighten up.
• Admitting a mistake shows character.

Eleventh Maxim: act now

What we do gives us more information about how to proceed. The doing itself becomes the teacher and guide.  The goal is always doing appropriate action, occasionally this can mean no action while being watchful for others to act before proceeding.

• The essence of improvising is action.
• Act in order to discover what comes next.
• You don’t need to feel like doing something to do it.
• Sometimes not doing is what is needed.

Twelfth Maxim: take care of each other

Give up criticizing. Listen attentively. Pay attention to your partner’s story. Look for ways that you can advance collective dreams and interests.

• Make your partner look good.
• Kindness is essential during chaos or a crisis.
• Always put positive thoughts into words and action.
• Deliver more than you promise. 

Thirteenth Maxim: enjoy the ride

Enjoy your life, seriously.  We need to be reminded of our capacity for delight and pleasure. Finding wonder, remembering how to play, . . . these are the things we all yearn for.

• Find joy in whatever you are doing, including ordinary tasks. 
• Look for ways to play. Play is essential to human growth. 
• Learning is enhanced when we lighten up.

Planning is necessary (see my other blog on planning), but over planning is no guarantee that things will turn out error-free.  As the book concludes, “Improv points to ways of being more and better alive, ways of cutting through our patterns of procrastination and doubt. It is up to each of us, however, to make the move. . . . a life of meaning and value is achieved through purposeful action. Risk is involved. Feeling insecure is natural, expected - part of the territory“.

Although improvising is not a magic pill for success, it, in a way, reflects the spirit of Zen that teaches how to be in harmony with the nature flow now, to work together moment by moment without a known formula, and to have fun!  To re-quote Charles Darwin’s famous saying,

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives…In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”

You can read a free chapter of this wonderful book here.  There are also videos from youtube available and here is a shorter video for your reference.

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It is Thanksgiving break - a few days to eat, reflect and be thankful. 

I am thankful for what life has given me so far.  I will always be thankful to my parents, my wife, my business partner and a few of my long-time close friends.  They helped shape who I am and how I view the world.  They provided needed boosts when I was down and they cheered for me when I hit my stride.   I owe to my brother and sister for their caring and connections.  I am also grateful that I have had many great teachers and mentors at school and work.  They taught me the knowledge and skills needed to survive and to perform my best.  And I owe many people whom I can’t even remember who have touched my life and provided great help when I needed it.

There is a Chinese saying, “Those who know how to be content with what they have are the ones with lasting happiness.”  In other words, the secret of happiness really lies on how you perceive your world. 

In the book, If Life is a Game, These are the Rules, author Dr. Cherie Carter-Scott suggests a few ways to cultivate gratitude that certainly apply here:

• “Imagine what your life would be like if you lost all that you had.  Like George Bailey in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”, this will most surely remind you of how much you do appreciate it.”
• “Make a list each day of all that you are grateful for, so that you can stay conscious daily of your blessings.  Do this especially when you are felling as though you have nothing to feel grateful for. Or spend a few minutes before you go to sleep giving thanks for all that you have.”
• “Spend time offering assistance to those who are less fortunate than you, so that you may gain perspective.”
• “Look for the gift in each challenging incident.”

One of the chapters in the book has a nice summary: “However you choose to learn gratitude is irrelevant.  What really matters are that you create a space in your consciousness for appreciation for all that you have right now, so that you may live more joyously in your present moment.”

As an Estonian Proverb puts it, “Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.”  Charles E. Jefferson also said, “Gratitude is born in hearts that take time to count up past mercies.”  In our desire of owning more and achieving more, we tend to forget what we already own.  

The bottom line is, count our blessings!

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An entrepreneur’s initial challenge is to do two things: first, to envision the future and enroll people to make that future become reality, and second, to engage people in the business so that they see the organization’s success as the platform for their success.

To enroll people means that you need to recruit those who believe in your endeavor and can help you realize the dream. Anyone who has done a lot of recruiting knows that recruiting is really more of an art than a science; there is no hiring process that is going to be perfect all the time.  You have to develop your own ability and instinct by observing the success and failure of your past hires.  Some of your hires will be highly successful, but a few will not do that well. The goal is to consistent refine your effectiveness in screening candidates so you can continuously improve your hit rate.

Over the years, I have had many opportunities in hiring and recruiting people.  My early years at Microsoft gave me lots of practice about how to conduct good interviews and assess a person’s core skills.  Later when I became an “As Appropriate” (a term referring to the last hiring manager in the Microsoft Interview loop), I learned how to assess a candidate’s overall fitness for the company.

Recruiting at Microsoft, however, was very different from recruiting at a startup. At Microsoft, we had no shortage of people wanting to join.  Microsoft was and still is a top-rated, well-established company filled with exceptionally bright people and wonderful benefits. My success criterion as a Microsoft hiring manager was to hire only exceptionally qualified “A” players for the company.  My hiring philosophy is basically the classical “A + A = A.  Only Hire A’s” strategy.  Here, the first A is for “ability” and the second A is for “attitude.”  The right ability plus the right attitude adds up to an “A” player.  “A” players are smart, savvy, motivated, and hardworking, and, most importantly, they get the job done.   

David Ogilvy describes this type of hiring elegantly. “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs.  But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.”

Later, when I started recruiting for our startup company, the simple “A + A = A” formula became necessary but not sufficient.  We cannot pretend that “A” players will naturally gravitate toward our little-known company, nor could we afford to hire all those “A” players at all cost.  Many A players don’t want to bet their careers on a small young company with lots of uncertainties and lesser benefits if job safety and the chance to work in a thousand-person team are at the top of their mind. We quickly realized that the people who will work for us are those like-minded people wanting to pursue an entrepreneurial career.  These people are confident in their own ability to succeed and are willing to take some risks for personal growth, financial upside and an environment where their efforts directly impact the success of the company. 

This realization has led me to come up with my own hiring philosophy now, one that caters more to the startup world.  I call this “the HAPPY Recruiting Principles”:

William Wu’s H.A.P.P.Y. Recruiting Principles

Here is a quick explanation of what the H.A.P.P.Y. stand for:

• “H” stands for “Hunger”.  This is the first thing that I look for to see if the candidate has an appetite for an entrepreneurial endeavor.  When animals go hunting together, those that are hungry tend to be in front of the pack.  Startups are all about hunting for new grounds, so we need those people who are willing to go all out to make things happen.  Our best employees are often those who have tried the hardest to convince us that they can do their jobs better than anyone else.  Their hunger and determination to join of our team often got me energized as well. 

Like Napolean Hill said, “The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small fire brings a small amount of heat.” We look for those with a lot of fires and desires.  Simply put, “No fire.  No hire!”

• “A” stands for candidate’s “Applicability”.  The applicability refers to the transferrable skills and knowledge possessed by a candidate that can be directly applied to the new job. Skills are the how-to’s of a role.  They are capabilities that can be transferred from one person to another. The knowledge is simply what a candidate is aware of.  There are 2 kinds of knowledge: factual – things a candidate knows; and experiential knowledge – a candidate past work experience.  Skills and knowledge can easily be taught. More applicability means less ramp-up time and easier adjustment into the role.   

• The first “P” is about a candidate’s natural talent which includes “Personality, Problem-solving and People Management”.
  • Personality reflects in a candidate’s striving talent. Some people are competitive in nature; others like to go with the flows.  Different roles require different types of personality to succeed.  Each personality comes with its strength and weakness. 
  • Problem solving reflects in a candidate’s thinking talent and the ability to navigate through tough technical challenges or business trade-offs daily.
  • People management reflects in a candidate’s ability to connect with other people and to work effectively with customers or other team members. 

These 3 P’s are neither trainable nor changeable. Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman’s excellent book First, Break All the Rules stressed on the importance of matching every role with the talents required to succeed. 

To quote from the book,
 “Great managers know:
People don’t change that much.
Don’t waste time trying to put in what was left out.
Try to draw out what was left in.
That is hard enough.”

As is often said by a basketball coach to his players, “I can teach you how to play great basketball, but I cannot make you taller.” 

What separates an “A” player from an ordinary player is that the player not only has the skills and knowledge, but also has the talent.  They are the Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods to their sports.  

• The 2nd “P” stands for “Passion”.  A truly outstanding candidate must love and be proud of his/her own profession. For example, great testers must enjoy the problem solving aspect of exercise that challenges them to break the system and find bugs before their target customers.

To quote E. M. Forster, “One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.” Ralph Waldo Emerson also said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”  Passionate people are infectious people.  They raise the bar of excellence and lift the spirit of the entire organization.

• The final “Y” is about “YOU”, the candidate.  Yes, no one in the world can help a candidate to decide if he or she should join any company.  A candidate needs to ask himself or herself honestly:
  • “What’s unique requirement of the job that can stretch my ability and challenge me to grow out of my comfortable zone?”
  • “What is the culture of the organization and the key people that I will work with and can I learn from them?”
  • “Do I fundamentally believe in this company’s vision and where it is going?  Do I understand the marketing forces in this company’s industry, including competitions, eco-systems and trends?”
  • “Does this job uniquely reflect my interests, skills, talents, capacities and match my true passion?”
  • “Do I have the support of my loved ones to pursue this career path?”
  • “Does my conscience tell me this is a career pursuit worthy of being committed to?”

Only the candidate can truly answer these questions.

Like Andre Gide said, “Do you think your truth can be found by anyone else?”

The HAPPY framework allows a candidate and me to discuss frankly about the mutual interests and possibilities.  When we both feel right, it creates a win-win situation for everyone. 

HAPPY recruiting!

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I have been a fan of Tao Te Ching (道德經, roughly translates to “How Things Work” in English) by the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu (老子, 600 B.C.). The idea of Yin and Yang makes intuitive sense, but at the same time the logics are often paradoxical and leave room for imagination. We smile and pause when we hear phrases like “less is more”, “living is dying”, “hating is loving” for the same reason: they are somewhat paradoxical but meaningful. A well-known Chinese saying that describes 3 stages of knowledge discovery as “See a mountain as a mountain; see a mountain not as a mountain; see a mountain as a mountain again (見山是山, 見山不是山,見山又是山).”

1. See a mountain as a mountain. This is our ability to see something as it is.  Most of the time we think we understand what we see, but we may not.  Essentially, we don’t know what we don’t know.
2. See a mountain not as a mountain. This is our ability to recognize that our understandings could easily be the misunderstandings and to appreciate something from multiple facets and not just at a superficial level.  
3. See a mountain as a mountain again. This is our ability to appreciate something as it is but also to understand its core spirit and the fundamental forces that make it so. Most of the Zen masters’ teachings are to encourage this phase of self-discovery.  Your perception creates your world.

To become a better leader often means to go through these 3 phases in order to learn and understand our relationships to those around us.  Experienced leaders are those who are already in the 2nd phase; they have the ability to adapt to situations that are often not as binary as they initially appear. 

Many leadership self-help books are built on the concept of Tao, and these books could be a good learning tool for young leaders who are interested in seeing leadership from a different viewpoint. One example of such a book is The Tao of Leadership, by psychologist John Heider. 

Another book that really opened my eyes to re-examine and reflect my own understanding of leadership is Management of the Absurd – Paradoxes in Leadership, a wonderful book by Richard Farson.

This book is nicely written in 33 chapters, each of which describes a leadership paradox.  Thought-provoking and incredibly insightful, it explains the paradoxes of communication, the politics of management, and the dilemmas of change exploring relationships within organizations.  It offers a unique perspective on the challenges leaders face.  All of the ideas presented by Mr. Farson have to do with grasping the difference between solving problems (a bad thing) and embracing predicaments and paradoxes (a good thing).

Some of the paradoxes presented in the book are easily accepted as leadership wisdom:

• The opposite of a profound truth is also true.
• Listening is more difficult than talking.
• The best resource for the solution of any problem is the person or group that presents the problem.
• In management, to be a professional, one must be an amateur
• Every great strength is a great weakness
• The more we communicate, the less we communicate

Then there are some insightful paradoxes, though not as obvious as previous ones:

• We want for ourselves not what we are missing, but more of what we already have. 
• There are no leaders, there is only leadership.
• Nothing is as invisible as the obvious
• Big changes are easier to make than small ones
• Individuals are almost indestructible, but organizations are very fragile.
• Leaders cannot be trained, but they can be educated.
• We think we invent technology, but technology also invents us.
• Every act is a political act.

Then there are paradoxes that really need a bit of reflection even after reading the book.  Some may even reject the following paradoxes:

• Planning is an ineffective way to bring about change
• People we think need changing are pretty good the way they are
• Most problems that people have are not problems
• Technology creates the opposite of its intended purpose
• Organizations that need help most will benefit from it least
• The better things are the worse they feel
• We think we want creativity or change, but we really don’t.
• Morale is unrelated to productivity
• Lost cause are the only ones worth fighting for

To me, these paradoxes push us to have a higher level of understanding of contradictions from the human nature in order to become more effective in leadership. They teach us that effective leaders are not necessarily in control all the time as most problems aren’t problems – they are predicaments. As one of the paradoxes by Mr. Farson points out, “the more experienced the managers, the more they trust simple intuition.” Good leadership is as much about being as about doing and therefore follows Lao Tzu’s timeless principles on the art of effective leadership:

 “Softness triumphs over hardness,
   feebleness over strength.
  What is more malleable is always
  superior over that which is immoveable.
  This is the principle of controlling things by going along with them,
  of mastery through adaptation.”
  - Lao Tzu

The final phase of self-discovery is also echoed in Mr. Farson’s notion that “the more important a relationship, the less skill matters.” This contradicts most things that we have ever heard in business school and training courses. As Mr. Farson says, “we have come to regard the job of manager as essentially the acquisition of techniques we call ‘management skills… But looking at the relationships that mean the most to us, do we really want skills from our friends and lovers? Not at all. …The people that we care most about are not expert in their relationship to us. After all, we would not want ‘expert friends’. …There are no ‘friendship skills.’ Nor would we want expert husbands, or wives, or lovers, or parents.” And, “Think of the difference between seduction and romance. Technique is required for the former but is useless in the latter. …If you know how to have a romance, it isn’t a romance, but a seduction. Not knowing how to do it makes it a romance.”

Hence comes the ultimate phase of knowledge discovery as revealed by Mr. Farson:

• Once you find a management technique that works, give it up
• Everything we try works, and nothing works

Confused enough? You should be.  Learning is a lot about unlearning and re-learning.  To quote Mr. Farson’s final paradox in the book, “My advice is - don’t take my advice.”

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It is a human nature to want to be heard, to share our thoughts, and to relate our own experience with others. But ask yourself:

• How many times that your friend described to you his/her experience and you were more than eager to jump in to tell him/her your own stories and more?
• How many times that someone casually mentioned to you a matter of his concern and only to get a handful of advices that he or she may not be seeking for?
• How many times when you were talking and you found others rolled their eyes and lost interest long before you finished?
• How many times that people wanted a simple answer and you gave them a long-winged answer with a lot of details that they didn’t care?
• How many times your colleague casually asked how you were doing and only to get back more than what they probably were looking to hear or having time to listen?
• How many times that you kicked yourself off saying too much that you later regretted?
• How many times that you wished your friend or employee didn’t give away your secret because you thought it is supposed to be a “secret”?
• How many times that your sales person tried too hard to sell your “product/service” that they actually forgot to give your perspective customers a chance to talk about what they really care and want?

All of the above happened all too often from my own experience which got me to think about the downside of becoming a person that talks too much.

• People think you are boring.  Even though you may be a super creative, idea generating guy, but the fact that you are talking too much probably make you less interesting. There are very few people that I know who don’t become more interesting when they stop talking. 
• People think you probably have a big ego.  Sigh, but most of the time a truth - excessive talkers tend to have big egos. 
• You are risking to be viewed as “shallow”.  Like the little frog that thinks he knows it all from the bottom of his little well in the famous Chinese story:

The Frog in the Well

Once upon a time, Little Frog lived at the bottom of a deep well.  Little Frog had water to drink when he was thirsty and insects to eat when he was hungry.  When he was tired, he was able to lie down on his back and look up at the sky that was high up above the opening to the well.

Little Frog had never spent a moment of his life outside of the well.  Still he was happy with his life, except for one thing.  He was lonely and wanted someone to play with.

Whenever an animal would come to the well to drink, Little Frog would call to the top of the well, “Hello!  Would you like to come down and play with me?  I have food and water, and a nice place to live.  It doesn’t get any better than this.”

But the other animals would say, “Thanks, Little Frog.  But we like it out here.  The world is much bigger and much nicer out here than down in the well.” 

But, Little Frog would say, “Nothing can be better than this!”

Birds would come down into the well to drink and Little Frog would ask them to play.  “You should come outside and play with us,” the birds would tell him.  The world is much bigger and much nicer out here than down in the well.” 

But, Little Frog would not believe them.  “Nothing can be as nice as my home,” Little Frog would say.

After hearing Little Frog say the same thing over and over, most of the birds and animals quit talking to him.  Little Frog could not understand why.  But, mainly he could not understand why nobody wanted to come to stay where he lived.

One day, a small Sparrow came again to drink at the well.  Sparrow and asked Little Frog to fly out with her into the big world outside.  The world is much bigger and much nicer out here than down in the well.” 

Little Frog said, “Why do you lie to me?  Nothing could be better than where I live!”  Sparrow became angry and flew away.

Still, Sparrow came back again and again to drink at the well.  Each time Little Frog invited Sparrow to stay and play with him.  Each time, Sparrow tried to tell Little Frog about the big world outside the well.  Each time, Sparrow flew away.

Then one day, Sparrow flew into the well.  But, instead of talking, Sparrow picked up Little Frog and flew back out of the well taking Little Frog with her.  At first Little Frog could hardly see because of the bright sunshine outside the well.  Then, he opened his eyes and saw the world around him from high in the air.

Little Frog was surprised by how much bigger the world was then he had ever believed before.  Little Frog began to realize how tiny his well was. “Thank you, Sparrow.  I am grateful for what you have shown me.  I apologize for not believing you.  Please let me down here,” he said.

Sparrow set Little Frog down next to a great big beautiful pond and said, “I am sorry for taking you out of your home without your permission.  I will take you back if you wish.”  Without answering, Little Frog jumped into the grass and saw many beautiful flowers of different colors.  He had never seen such beautiful flowers and had never smelled such nice scents.  The outside world is so big, so wonderful, and beautiful!”  The Little Frog finally cried out happily and jumped into the pond.

Sparrow came back later and asked, “Little Frog! How do you like the world outside your well?”

Little Frog said, “It is big and beautiful!  Thank you very much. If you had not brought me out to see this world, I would never have known that there are such beautiful things that exist outside my well.”

Little Frog never tried to go back to his old well again.

The ones that really know typically are not boasting or talking too much.  They are humble and they know there are always more to learn from others.

• People may not think you are trustworthy.  They know you may not have the discipline to keep a tight lip of important secrets.  As the U.S. government world war II slogan, “Loose Lips Sink Ship!”  Those who talk more uncontrolably are more likely prone to say something wrong by accident.

Great leaders know the talking pitfall and work hard to do the opposite – that is, active listening. They know that communicating to others is less about speaking than about listening.  Like the American Journalist P.J. O’Rourke said, “One thing talk can’t accomplish is communication.  This is because everybody’s talking too much to pay attention to what anyone is saying.” They internalize and practice the wisdom from others:

• “Brevity is the soul of wit.”  – William Shakespeare
  “Many attempts to communicate are nullified by saying too much.” – Robert Greenleaf, from Servant Leadership.
• “When you have nothing to say, say nothing.”  – Charles Caleb Colton, British clergy man & writer.
• “I wish people who have trouble communicating would just shut up.” – Tom Lehrer, American Singer, Songwriter, Mathematician
• If you don’t say anything you won’t be called on to repeat it. – Calvin Coolidge, U.S. president
• “Talking and eloquence are not the same: to speak, and to speak well, are two things.  A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks.” – Ben Jonson, English playwright and poet.
• “It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” – Mark Twain
• “Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand.” - Unknown 
• “After all is said and done, more is said than done. “ – Unknown
• “The reward for always listening when you’d rather be talking is wisdom.”  – Unknown
• “Make a habit of dominating the listening and let the customer dominate the talking.” – Brian Tracy, well-known business leadership book author

For most of us, talking right and talking light are actually one of the most difficult skills to master on the road to become as an effective leader.  However, it is a skill that can be learned by starting to pay more attention to listen to others.  Remember, your ears never get you in trouble!

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One of the books that I personally enjoyed tremendously is “The FIVE Temptations of a C.E.O.” by Patrick Lencioni. 

This is a provocative fable leadership story that depicts the challenge and inspiration of overcoming the five deceptively simple barriers to successful leadership.  The story introduces a struggling CEO, Andrew O’Brien, who meets a wise old janitor of BART train, Charlie. Via intensive and often combative exchanges, the two debate fundamental issues faced by all leaders – issues involving personal integrity and effectiveness in the ongoing struggle for success.  The 5 temptations revealed by Charlie to Andrew are real challenges that test a leader’s character:

• Temptation 1: Choosing to preserve one’s own ego/career ahead of results.
• Temptation 2: Choosing popularity and camaraderie with their direct reports over holding them accountable for delivering on the commitments that drive results.
• Temptation 3: Choosing certainty over clarity by focusing too much on the need for precision and correctness that cause decisions to be postponed or deliverables to be vague.
• Temptation 4: Choosing group harmony over productive conflict.  Harmony sometimes restricts productive ideological conflict and, therefore, decisions are often suboptimal without all perspectives out on the table.
• Temptation 5: Choosing invulnerability over trust.  Executives mistakenly believe that allowing their direct reports to challenge them too comfortably can lead to the credibility loss.

New York Times had a recent article on C.E.O. Characteristics by David Brooks that echoed the concepts above:

“…warm, flexible, team-oriented and empathetic people are less likely to thrive as C.E.O.’s. Organized, dogged, anal-retentive and slightly boring people are more likely to thrive.

These results are consistent with a lot of work that’s been done over the past few decades. In 2001, Jim Collins published a best-selling study called ‘Good to Great.’ He found that the best C.E.O.’s were not the flamboyant visionaries. They were humble, self-effacing, diligent and resolute souls who found one thing they were really good at and did it over and over again.

That same year Murray Barrick, Michael Mount and Timothy Judge surveyed a century’s worth of research into business leadership. They, too, found that extroversion, agreeableness and openness to new experience did not correlate well with C.E.O. success. Instead, what mattered was emotional stability and, most of all, conscientiousness — which means being dependable, making plans and following through on them.

All this work is a reminder that, while it’s important to be a sensitive, well-rounded person for the sake of your inner fulfillment, the market doesn’t really care. The market wants you to fill an organizational role.”

Character is an exhibition of the inner principles that we follow.  As General Omar Nelson Bradley from the U.S. Army said, “We need to learn to set our course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship.”  We need to hold ourselves responsible for a higher standard than anybody expect of us.  This is the only way a true leader develops his or her integrity and inner principles. Following Albert Einstein’s advice, “Try not to become men of success.  Rather become men of value.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower also told us, “The men that can do things are going to be sought out just as surely as the sun rises in the morning. Fake reputations, habits of glib and cleaver speech and glittering surface performance are going to be discovered and kicked overboard.”

In the end, most of us have succumbed to one or more of these ‘temptations’. By understanding of these temptations that creep into our character weakness will help us avoid the embarrassment or setback that we try so hard to avoid in our career.  Use the following key messages from Mr. Lencioni’s book as a constant reminder:

• Make results the most important measure of personal success, or step down from the job.
• Work for the long-term respect of your direct reports, not for their affection. View them as key employees who must deliver on their commitments.
• Make clarity more important than accuracy and not afraid of risk being wrong. If the decisions made in the spirit of creating more clarity turn out to be wrong when more information become available, change plans and explain why. Do not afraid of the loss of personal pride at the expense of paralyzing the business.
• Tolerate discord and encourage people to air their ideological differences, and with passion.  View tumultuous meetings as signs of progress but guard against personal attacks that stifle important interchanges of ideas.
• Best executives get results by putting their weaknesses on the table and invite people to help them minimize those weaknesses.

Horace Greeley puts a perfect conclusion here,

“Fame is a vapour,
Popularity an accident
Riches take wings
Those who cheer today
Will curse tomorrow
Only one thing endures:
Character”

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Business Week recently had a cover story on the new book by Jim Collin, the renowned author of Good to Great and Build to Last.  His new book on HOW THE MIGHT FALL – A Primer of Warning Signs.  Mr. Collin provides insightful findings on the key question: “How do you know your company is already on the path of decline?”

According to Mr. Collin’s research, there are 5 stages of declines that companies go through.  Here are the excerpts from the business article:

“STAGE 1: HUBRIS BORN OF SUCCESS

Great enterprises can become insulated by success; accumulated momentum can carry an enterprise forward for a while, even if its leaders make poor decisions or lose discipline. Stage 1 kicks in when people become arrogant, regarding success virtually as an entitlement, and they lose sight of the true underlying factors that created success in the first place. When the rhetoric of success (”We’re successful because we do these specific things”) replaces penetrating understanding and insight (”We’re successful because we understand why we do these specific things and under what conditions they would no longer work”), decline will very likely follow. Luck and chance play a role in many successful outcomes, and those who fail to acknowledge the role luck may have played in their success—and thereby overestimate their own merit and capabilities—have succumbed to hubris.

STAGE 2: UNDISCIPLINED PURSUIT OF MORE

Hubris from Stage 1 (”We’re so great, we can do anything!”) leads right to Stage 2, the Undisciplined Pursuit of More—more scale, more growth, more acclaim, more of whatever those in power see as “success.” Companies in Stage 2 stray from the disciplined creativity that led them to greatness in the first place, making undisciplined leaps into areas where they cannot be great or growing faster than they can achieve with excellence—or both. When an organization grows beyond its ability to fill its key seats with the right people, it has set itself up for a fall. Although complacency and resistance to change remain dangers to any successful enterprise, overreaching better captures how the mighty fall.

STAGE 3: DENIAL OF RISK AND PERIL

As companies move into Stage 3, internal warning signs begin to mount, yet external results remain strong enough to “explain away” disturbing data or to suggest that the difficulties are “temporary” or “cyclic” or “not that bad,” and “nothing is fundamentally wrong.” In Stage 3, leaders discount negative data, amplify positive data, and put a positive spin on ambiguous data. Those in power start to blame external factors for setbacks rather than accept responsibility. The vigorous, fact-based dialogue that characterizes high-performance teams dwindles or disappears altogether. When those in power begin to imperil the enterprise by taking outsize risks and acting in a way that denies the consequences of those risks, they are headed straight for Stage 4.

STAGE 4: GRASPING FOR SALVATION

The cumulative peril and/or risks gone bad of Stage 3 assert themselves, throwing the enterprise into a sharp decline visible to all. The critical question is: How does its leadership respond? By lurching for a quick salvation or by getting back to the disciplines that brought about greatness in the first place? Those who grasp for salvation have fallen into Stage 4. Common “saviors” include a charismatic visionary leader, a bold but untested strategy, a radical transformation, a dramatic cultural revolution, a hoped-for blockbuster product, a “game-changing” acquisition, or any number of other silver-bullet solutions. Initial results from taking dramatic action may appear positive, but they do not last. STAGE 5: CAPITULATION TO IRRELEVANCE OR DEATH

The longer a company remains in Stage 4, repeatedly grasping for silver bullets, the more likely it will spiral downward. In Stage 5, accumulated setbacks and expensive false starts erode financial strength and individual spirit to such an extent that leaders abandon all hope of building a great future. In some cases the company’s leader just sells out; in other cases the institution atrophies into utter insignificance; and in the most extreme cases the enterprise simply dies outright. “

One of the key assertion by Mr. Collin is that “Every institution is vulnerable, no matter how great. There is no law of nature that the most powerful will inevitably remain at the top. Anyone can fall, and most eventually do.” 

The Chinese philosopher Lau Tsz has this famous quote in the Tao Te Ching:

“He who stands on tiptoe is not steady.
He who strides cannot maintain the pace.
He who makes a show is not enlightened.
He who is self-righteous is not respected.
He who boasts achieves nothing.
He who brags will not endure.”

Bill Gates echoed this idea when he said, “Success is a lousy teacher.  It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” 

Companies don’t need to get big to fail.   Entrepreneurs must learn the lessons from the failure of the Mighty and they must keep a sharp focus on growing companies sensibly.  A quote from Anita Roddick sums it up nicely:

“Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking.” 

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I have enjoyed the daily free Leadership newsletter (www.smartbrief.com/leadership/) from SmartBrief and will highly recommend to anyone interested in developing better personal leadership to subsribe to.  Today the newsletter’s SmartQuote section has a nice quote on humility from the U.S. Present Barack Obama, “We exercise our leadership best when we … show some element of humility and when we recognize we may not always have the best answer but we can always encourage the best answer.”

Confucius told his followers, “Humility is the solid foundation of all the virtues.”  Cornel West also said, “Humility means two things. One, a capacity for self-criticism… The second feature is allowing others to shine, affirming others, empowering and enabling others.  Those who lack humility are dogmatic and egotistical.  That masks a deep sense of insecurity. They fell the success of others is at the expense of their own fame and glory.”

One book by Hal Urban titled Choices That Change Live has a great chapter describing humility in an elegant way that I decided to copy the quotes directly from his book to share with you:

4 Things Humble People Won’t Do

- Humble people don’t think they know everything. 

• “It wasn’t until quite late in my life that I discovered how easy it is to say “I don’t know.” – Somerset Maugham

- Humble people don’t think they are always right.

• “Pride is concerned who is right.  Humanity is concerned what is right.” – Ezra Taft Benson
• “Nobody stands taller than those willing to stand corrected.” – William Safire

- Humble people don’t brag.

• “What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.” – Abraham Lincoln
• “When someone signs his praises, he always gets the tune too high.” – Mary H. Waldrip.

- Humble people don’t judge others.

• “I look only to the good qualities of men.  Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.” – Mahatma Gandhi
• “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? – Matthew 7:1-3.

4 Things Humble People Consistently Do

- Humble people treat others with respect.

• “Humility and respect go hand in hand.” – Paul H. Borisoff
• Treat other people exactly as you would like to be treated by them.” – Matthew 7:12

- Humble people are thankful.

• “Prideful people never have enough.  Humble people appreciate what they have.” – Jean Dreyfus
• “It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy.” – Charles Spurgeon

-Humble people are genuine.

• “Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.” – Thomas Merton
• “I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize.  The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others.” – Lao-Tzu

-Humble people want to learn and become better.

• “Humility is an approach to life that says “I don’t have all the answers and I want your contributions.” – John Baldoni
• “Being prepared to set aside old notions and be taught by life is learning humility.” – Michael McGinnis

In short, “Life is a lesson in humility.  Be humble… or be humbled.”  Smart leaders know this well and you can, too.

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Wall Street Journal had a good article recently titled “Why Good Manager Make Bad Decisions?” by Erin White.  I re-summarized the 4 reasons that Ms. White mentioned in her article:

1. Over rely on experience could be dangerous.  We sometimes overstate experience and situation may not exactly fit our experience.  We may be liable to rely on our experience in a way that’s just not going to be that helpful.
2. Self-interest. Most people don’t realize self-interest operates at a subconscious level. We’re not even aware of how self-interested we are. 
3. Prejudgments. Smart leaders could be vulnerable to prejudgment; that is, they decided on something early on and stuck to it no matter what.
4. Attachment. Attachments to people or places or business that we like or have spent great effort building up could make a decision difficult.  This is particularly true when it comes to downsize or selling off business.

Motivated by our self-interest is what propels everyone to wake up in the morning and get going. However, we have seen too many leaders blinded by their self-interest that they forget what is morally right. These are particularly amplified by the recent excessive executive pays and bonuses in the corrupted financial/banking industries that we saw in the news headlines.   It reminds me of the following Chinese story:

“Many, many years ago there was a man of the land of Ch’I who had a great passion for gold.  One day at the crack of dawn he went to the market-straight to the gold dealers’ stalls, where he snatched some gold and ran away.  The market guards soon caught him.  ‘With so many people around, how did you expect to get away with it?’ a guard asked.

‘When I took it,’ he replied, ‘I saw only the gold, not the people.’”

Ms. White concluded: “People need to recognize that we are biased in every single situation. There’s no such thing as objectivity…. (Therefore, smart leaders) need to walk into an important decision situation saying, ‘Ok, I know that we are potentially biased in a variety of ways. Let’s try to identify what those are.’”

Take a moment to think about it next time:

• Would you want your employees or associates to see you as someone that put your interest ahead of them?
• Do you think they will want to work with you again if you make them feel so? 

The answers are very obviously ‘No!’  As Carl W. Buechner put it, “They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”

William Shakespeare told us, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”  Mark Twain said, “We do not deal much in facts when we are contemplating ourselves.” 

This brings up a somber, but true fact.  The person that you most need the power to influence and control is you.

Dr. Phil in his Life Strategies book offers this observation:

“The person whose negative characteristics and behavior patterns you most need the power to minimize or eliminate and whose positive characteristics and behavior patterns you most need to maximize, is you.  Whether the characteristics is depression, insecurity, anger, apathy, loneliness, or any of a number of other possible characteristics, you are the one who will have to minimize or eliminate it.  Doing so will require knowledge.  It takes knowledge about how you developed that negative characteristic, why you persist with it, and, more importantly, how to replace it with more positive, constructive characteristics.”

One of the articles in Seth Godin’s book The Big Moo lists the Three Rules of Life (and Everything Else) which I took some liberty to morph into the following:

1. Your Attitude Is Your Life.  Our attitude changes our life and the lives of those around us.  Hold yourself to a higher standard. Believe that you want to do to other people just like what you want them to do to you.
2. Maximize Your Options. When we lock ourselves into one possibility of how things must be done, our businesses, our lives and the lives of those around us get stuck.  Therefore in all things, big and small, open yourself to the possible options.  Then trust yourself to choose the right one for the moment.
3. Finally, Don’t Let the Seeds Stop You From Enjoying the Watermelon. Doing what is right could be tough, but the reward is going to outweigh any personal sacrifices.

Everyone approaches every situation with at least some concern about “what’s in for me?” This is normal.  To ignore this human nature is unrealistic and even wrong, but choosing the right decision becomes easier if you are aware of how experience, self-interest, prejudgments and attachments are in play.  Take advantage of your personal motivation and take control of it. At the end, you will feel great of what you have done!

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Just recovered from my new year break and feel recharged to face whatever challenges in 2009. 

Here is a short Zen story to start my rambling for the new year:

“A rich man asked a Zen master to write something down that could encourage the prosperity of his family for years to come.  It would be something that the family could cherish for generations.  On a large piece of paper, the master wrote, “Father dies, son dies, grandson dies.”

The rich man became angry when he saw the master’s work.  “I asked you to write something down that could bring happiness and prosperity to my family.  Why do you give me something depressing like this?”

“If your son should die before you, “ the master answered, “this would bring unbearable grief to your family.  If your grandson should die before your son, this also would bring great sorrow.  If your family , generation after generation, disappears in the order I have described, it will be the natural course of life.  This is true happiness and prosperity.”

This story tells us that sometimes the best thing is to allow things to happen in its natural course.  The law of harvest tells us to plant a seed in spring; to water, weed and fertile it during summer so we can harvest it in the fall.  With this state in mind, here come a few thoughts on personal leadership for starting a new year. 

• Count your blessing. The famous Japanese proverb says, “He is poor who does not feel content.” Lao-Tzu says the same, “He who is content is rich.” It is easy for us to forget how much we own at a tough time and the grass always feels greener on the other side.  But the reality is that we own a lot more than we sometimes realize.  Think about it.  The fact that you are reading this blog means that you have access to internet and information that most people in the world won’t even have the choice having.  Suffering is a state of mind and it is all relative.  Be satisfied with what you own is often the best counter to the present world where relentless pursuit of more becomes the society norm.  Inventory what you have gotten and be willing to make the best use of them.  
• Be willing to let go.  “The only way to make yourself indispensable is to make yourself dispensable.” As pointed out by Dr. John Maxwell in The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: “A weak leader worries that if he helps subordinates, he will become dispensable,  But the truth is that the only way to make yourself indispensable is to make yourself dispensable.” Take the principle behind Bruce Lee’s Tao of Jeet Kune Do, “Empty your cup so that it may be filled; become devoid to gain totality.”
• Be true to yourself.  To quote Edward R. Murrow, “To be persuasive, we must be believable. To be believable, we must be credible. To be credible, we must be truthful.“  Steve Jobs in his widely circulated speech to Standford University graduates: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. You somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
• Invest and believe in yourself.  Who you are dictates what you see, so get to know yourself better and then bring your unique strengths out, the things you like doing and are good at, to bear on the work in hand. You need to build on your strengths that strengthen others. Personal leadership is all about have a clear vision of where you want to be and have discipline to take meaningful actions to realize the vision. As a Japanese proverb put it, “Vision without action is a daydream.  Action without vision is a nightmare.”  A Buddhist proverb also tells us, “You, youself, must make the effort.  The buddhas are only teachers.”
• Seize the moment.  “The Precious Present” by Spencer Johnson, one of the popular books, uses a simple story to teach people how precious the present moment is.  Mark Twain once said, “I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one.” So make the best out of every situation and you can find beauty everywhere around you. Understand the Chinese saying, “When you have only two pennies left, buy a loaf of bread with one and a lily with the other.” To seize the moment is to practice what Bill Fitzpatrick, a Shaolin master, describes in his book 100 Action Principles of the Shaolin,
   “If you feel happy, smile.
  If you feel daring, act.
  If you receive good service, compliment.
  If you feel energetic, do something positive.
  If you know a good joke, tell it.
  If you feel generous, give.
  If you are interested in getting wealthy, save and invest.
  If someone needs help, leann them your strong hands or soft voices.
  If you give your word, keep it.
  If you can say something nice, say it.
  If you can stand up for the weak, do it.”

One of the best things that a new year has given us is new hopes.  The new hopes that things will improve and all the hard work in the past will pay off and all the dots will somehow be connected to form the best roadmap ahead. As you kick into the high gear to ramp up for this year, remember to allow the natural order to happen in its course.  Perhaps Lao-Tzu’s words can be used as a reminder:

“Softness triumphs over hardness. 
Feebleness over strength. 
What is more malleable is always superior over that which is immoveable. 
This is the principle of controlling things by going along with them, of mastery through adaptation.”

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