Five Things Giraffes Teach Us About Leadership

Dawn on the Serengeti. The plains are mostly silent, save for the cackling and snarling of a group of hyenas, still hidden in shadow, competing for scraps from last night's kill. The sun erupts over the horizon, gathering strength as it prepares to sear the parched grasslands.   In the distance, a familiar silhouette makes its languid and graceful way to a stand of leafy acacia trees.

The giraffe. Earth's tallest land animal, it is slender and beautiful, herbivorous and social. And it has a few things to teach us about leadership:

1. You already stand out from the crowd; take advantage of it.
   Leaders get noticed, sometimes even before they become leaders. The giraffe accomplishes this with his long legs and even longer neck, whereas you, unless you are 18 feet tall and weigh 3000 pounds, are going to have to rely on the 3 "C"s of the developing leader: competence, confidence, and communication. If you have these talents, you already stand out; you may as well acknowledge that and act on it.
   
   
2. Sometimes you just have to dive right into things.
   The birth of a giraffe is one of the wonders of nature: the newborn falls about six feet from his mother to the ground! From that point he has only about half an hour to find his footing: while giraffes aren't normally sought by predators, a shaky calf makes a prime target. Like the newborn calf, leaders don't always have the benefit of preparation or training for every situation in which they find themselves. The giraffe reminds us that even after a tough beginning, we need to adjust rapidly to avoid a potentially much harsher fate.
   
   
3. Never forget that others are relying on you.
   The giraffe obviously has a view of its surroundings that is unavailable to other animals. However, when the giraffe is at a watering hole, it has to splay its front legs rather awkwardly to reach down to take a drink, a position that leaves it quite vulnerable to alligators and other predators. That is why the giraffes do not all drink at once; as some are drinking, others are watching, ready to alert the herd if danger is nearby. Even other animals will take a cue from the giraffes and head for safer ground if the big herbivores are startled.
   
   Likewise, our teams are watching us closely for hints of trouble ahead. Leaders have to keep in mind that their responses to developments within the enterprise are always being observed, and remember that they have a responsibility, not only to lead their teams away from danger, but also to avoid sending false signals that could cause distraction and anxiety.
   
   
4. Remain above the fray.
   Not too many predators will take a shot at landing a giraffe for lunch. The animal is simply too big, and its kicks too powerful; there are simpler choices on the menu. Well, the Serengeti and the boardroom have something in common: a tendency towards eliminating the weaker members of the herd. As a leader, your position could make you a target: arm yourself with a history of successful efforts and a reputation for keeping yourself above petty political squabbles, and you will encourage would-be spoilers to find easier targets.
   
   
5. Acquire rewards that are out of reach to others.
   The whole point of the giraffe's size and specialized anatomy is to enable it to reach and enjoy the leaves of the thorny acacia tree. Not only is much of this foliage to be found far above the ground; it is also protected by enormous, pointy thorns, which the giraffe easily avoids by using its impressive tongue. 
   
   
   
   Similarly, through their own unique natures, leaders are equipped to reach unusual rewards: mentoring a team member and seeing her advance, leading an important project to a successful conclusion, or making decisions that have an impact on the company, its customers, and its employees. And, yes, sometimes the money's good*, too. :)
   
   
   

Sure, taking leadership lessons from animals, even beautiful and exceptional animals, could be considered odd. Then again, in the martial arts we find a centuries-old principle of learning from the natural fighting styles of the tiger, crane, leopard, snake, and other animals. Studying these animals has provided inspiration for some pretty incredible martial arts feats over the years;  perhaps the giraffe can do the same for our practice of leadership.

Got any other examples of animal-inspired leadership lessons?  Share them by clicking on the "Comments" link below.

Postscript:

Like giraffes as much as I do?  You can see them up close and personal - and even feed them! - at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, one of my favorite places.

Also, for a very funny take on the giraffe, see this Saturday Night Live video short (which is unfortunately preceded by a 30-second ad, but it's worth the wait).

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All photos above are licensed for reuse. No endorsement is implied. Attributions:
Drinking giraffe: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38349568@N07/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Acacia thorns: http://www.flickr.com/photos/martineau/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

A Smatitude of Gratitude

(OK, I admit it: "smatitude" isn't really a word.)

Here we are, approaching the holidays, and I am looking back on the professional and emotional carnage this complicated year hath wrought. In 2009, my employer was taken over by the FDIC and then sold off for a song.  My employees were scattered to the wind;  some of them have yet to find new positions. On the home front, my little dog, who had been with us for 16 years, passed away.  And, of course, my own transition from big-company employee back to entrepreneur, writer, advisor, and work-at-home dad has not been without its difficulties.

To put it concisely: in many ways, this past year has sucked.

Like many others, though, I use this time of year as an opportunity to set aside the whining, and focus instead on the great good fortune that overwhelmingly and fundamentally defines my life.  Much of this gratitude is directed towards the various people I've had the good fortune to lead over the past couple of decades or so.  I've tried to show them my appreciation on a regular basis, but it's good to pause and dedicate a moment now for just that purpose.

Of course, offering your gratitude for the hard work and dedication of your team is simply appropriate and proper.  Your employees, through their efforts, have enhanced your career, and in the best cases, made your workdays more enjoyable through their companionship and professionalism. But, as blogger Ron Ashkenas points out on the Harvard Business Publishing blog, there are reasons beyond simple humanity and courtesy to share your gratitude with your team:

[T]he notion of "giving thanks" also is critical for driving organizational and individual improvement. Most research into individual development has shown that managers are more likely to change if they are given positive feedback that they can build upon, [than they are] when confronted with a litany of weaknesses and failures.

Simply put: offering gratitude for strong performance works better than discouraging poor performance.

Well, thanks to some seriously bad management at a now-defunct bank, I no longer have to worry about motivating my employees.  But I am still very grateful to my teams, recent and more remote, and to them I say:

Thank you for always making me look smarter and more skilled than I really am, by dint of your creativity and professionalism.

Thank you for putting up with me on the many, many occasions I showed up at work moody, grumpy, distracted, or all of the above.

Thank you for your considerable openness to my direction, feedback, and recommendations, and for your willingness to let me know when I was doing or suggesting something dumb, and for your direct but gently tactful way of saying so.

Thank you for the trust, both professional and personal, that you placed in me by allowing me to guide you in reaching your career goals and in managing the tricky balance between work and family.

I have a lot to learn, and I have made errors notable both in number and scope; I will no doubt continue to do so.  But I'm happy with who I am, and what I'm doing, and the way I'm going about it, and much of that I owe to the people who reported to me through the years.  And so, one more time, to all of you:  thank you.

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PS And, as a final note: thank you to you, my readers.  Your feedback and nice comments have made working on this blog an incredibly rewarding effort.

I hope you enjoyed this article. If so, please consider sharing it via Twitter, or adding a comment using the link below.

Five Ways to Lose Your Best Employees

Oh dear!  You went ahead and ignored my advice, and managed to hire some outstanding employees.  Don't worry:  all is not lost.  Just follow this simple plan, and you can be sure that, sooner rather than later, your best employees will run screaming toward the exits, on their way to working for your competitors.

5. Keep poor performers around until they quit, retire, or die. Remember, the goal here is to get rid of your strong performers -- the ones carrying the load when your poor performers are yakking on the phone or leaving at 2pm for their fourteenth "doctor's appointment" this month. Leverage the time-tested power of low morale by keeping around a few folks who burden the rest of the team with their total lack of pride in their work. Soon enough, your most productive employees will look for a workplace at which they don't spend all day resenting their Wallyesque colleagues.
   
   
4. What is this "training budget" of which you speak? Here's where you'll be glad you've turned to me, your employee alienation mentor, because managers get this one wrong all the time. You may think that providing training for your employee simply sets her up to take a better, higher-paying job somewhere else, and thus, you want to train the heck out of those good employees. But nay! It turns out that strong performers want to learn and grow in their jobs, and want their employers to give them opportunities to follow a career path within their company. Who would've guessed? Deny them training, and they will soon make their way to a company that demonstrates its interest in keeping them by giving them the tools they need to meet their career goals.
   
   
3. Take credit for their work. When you're in a staff meeting with the CEO, she has no idea who on your team was really responsible for the recent success (why on Earth would you ever give her that information?). Why not take the credit? Besides, surely it was your inspired leadership that drove the hard work of your talented and dedicated employees, thus producing the desired results. Surprisingly effective, this technique will ensure that your staff will look for an employer who enables, rather than blocks, the progress of their careers.
   
   
2. Practice NIHYYSOB management. NIHYYSOB, a concept introduced in the classic book(let), The One-Minute Manager, means giving your employees no feedback at all, until they do something wrong. The moment you spot a mistake, you zap them for their error, and, like a Moray eel, slink back to your hole to await the next victim. Your employee will quickly learn that the only way to get your attention is to fail, and will therefore begin the search for a company at which he might occasionally be recognized for what he does right. (I am indebted to John Romine of UC Irvine for reminding me of this one.)
   
   
1. Ignore them altogether. On the other hand, NIHYYSOB does require a bit of effort on your part. Why not simply provide no feedback, no direction, and no leadership whatsoever? Don't believe this technique is common? Think about your team. How often do you meet with your direct reports, much less the other members of the team, on a one-on-one basis? And when you do, are you talking about the employee's progress towards her career goals, or just reviewing the status of whatever project she is working on? And how often do you bring the whole team together, and when you do, what sort of feedback do you offer them? The beauty of this technique is that it is so simple, you may be practicing it right now without even realizing it!
   

There's an old saying that suggests that an employee joins a company for the job, salary, location, and benefits, but leaves because of their boss. You can be that boss!  Believe me, in addition to the handful of modest suggestions above, there are sooooo many other ways to get those pesky, demanding, expensive, and talented employees to go somewhere else. 

And, once they leave, your loyalty and dedication will certainly be all the more apparent... won't it?

Five Ways to Avoid Hiring the Best Candidates

Hiring: even good managers are sometimes bad at it. Many seem to hate the process, and by extension, the candidates. And who can blame them? You have to kiss a lot of frogs during the recruitment process, and there's no guarantee of even a single prince at the end.  So why not make it easy on yourself?  Just scare away the best candidates - anybody left will be happy to accept pretty much any offer you're prepared to make!

Here are some ways to make sure that the best candidates will take a position with your competitors, and not with you:

5. Create a vague job description. Like this one, which has been on Monster for months: and no wonder.  (Sorry if it's been taken down by the time you read this.) This type of bland, non-descriptive advertisement says to potential candidates that only the most desperate need apply. Highly qualified candidates will be much too selective to give that ad a second look.
   
   
4. Don't prepare.  During the interview, ask questions that make it painfully obvious you have not reviewed your candidate's resume or cover letter. Even better, have no questions prepared at all: just wing it. Then have him hang out in the conference room for 20 minutes while you hunt around to see if anybody else - anybody - is available to speak with him. Message: this role isn't important enough for us to spend any time thinking about who will be filling it.
   
   
3. Don't challenge them.  Only throw softballs during the interview.  After all, it's so darned uncomfortable for everyone when the candidate can't answer a question;  who wouldn't want to avoid that? Your candidate will understand completely: you're a leader who can't make a difficult or unpopular choice.
   
   
2. Play "gotcha".  Instead of asking boring questions designed to illuminate his skills, experience, and values, spend an hour trying to stump your candidate.  If he seems to know a lot about something, keep digging until you turn up something he doesn't know (and that you probably don't know either). He'll recognize that you're the type of leader that needs to be the smartest person in the room.
   
   
1. Make them wait.  Keep your candidate waiting in the lobby for half an hour past the scheduled interview time. Then make her wait after the interview to hear what her status is. Don't tell her when to expect a decision, or if you do, miss the deadline. Don't reply to her thank-you note.  This technique will send your candidate a clear signal that your employees come last when you are prioritizing your tasks for the day.

In all seriousness, great employees are still hard to find, even in tough economic times.  You'll work hard to recruit them, and you'll work hard to keep them. Accept that, and you will build a team whose success creates new rewards and new opportunities for them, and for you.

Finding Your Team's Hidden Abilities

I'm a student of martial arts.  I study a variety of karate known as kempo. For me, martial arts is unsurpassed in its ability to build and support the qualities of leadership, self-reliance, initiative, persistence, and strategic thinking, that I seek to reinforce in myself. And, oh yes, let's not forget humility, which is especially relevant in my case, as I tend to get my butt kicked at least once a week.

Today I was watching a mixed martial arts match on TV.  I figured I knew how it was going to turn out:  one of the fighters was gigantic, towering over his opponent and enjoying about an 8-inch reach advantage.  Neither fighter was very experienced, and the match figured to end with the bigger dude, Marcus "Big Baby" Jones, beating the heck out of his opponent with his enormous fists.

But that's not what happened.  Yes, Jones won, and won convincingly.  But, to my utter surprise, he won with finesse, rather than power, trapping his opponent in a painful submission known as an arm bar. True, submission techniques aren't solely the province of small, wiry fighters; still, they do require some skill and experience, and I sure didn't expect to see that kind of grappling ability in former NFL player Jones.

Part of the lesson here, of course, is not to judge a book by its cover.  But there's more to it.  It wasn't just Jones' stature, broad shoulders, bulging biceps, and absurdly large hands that led to my incorrect prediction; after all, his opponent wasn't exactly built like a chimney sweep either.  But I'd watched both opponents train; I knew a bit about their backgrounds.  At one point prior to the fight, Jones said he was going to tear off his opponent's arm and hit him with it.  All in all, I felt safe in concluding I was about to see a beat-down.

Instead, I was treated to an exercise in strategy and timing I'd never anticipated. I thought I had a reasonable picture of Jones the fighter, but in reality, I'd missed his hidden abilities. Of course, people can surprise you - even people you think you know pretty well, like the members of your team. I've had a few opportunities to build teams from scratch, but most of the time, I take over an existing group.  That means that individuals on the team have spent time - perhaps a long time - in their respective roles.

These roles form the context in which I get to know them.  In the early stages of our relationship, I learn their personalities, as well as their skills and work habits. But it's easy to forget that I'm looking at them through a narrow window bounded by their job descriptions, that there's much more to each person than is evident to me in my usual interactions with them.

The best way to find the buried nuggets of talent on your team is simply to dedicate a portion of your busy schedule to meet and speak with each of them individually.  I've mentioned before that I'm surprised to see how infrequently senior leaders are willing to make this simple, though admittedly time-consuming, effort.

In hard times, it's more important than ever that leaders take the time to see sides of their employees that they might otherwise have missed.  Automation, outsourcing, and the poor economic climate have formed the perfect storm, robbing workers of opportunities and, in many cases, their livelihoods.  Knowing your team member's hidden talents may mean the difference between finding her a new role or having to let her go.

Keeping your employees employed is noble and appropriate, but it's not the only advantage of taking a closer look.  The more you know of your team's hidden abilities, the broader your range of responses can be when faced with new business challenges. That makes you, and your team, more valuable to your enterprise.  And that is a good place to be, whatever the state of the economy.