As A Man Thinketh - James Allen

“Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.” Vince Lombardi was on to something when he said this. Lombardi took over as head coach of the Green Bay Packers after a 1-10 season. In and incredible turn around, Lombardi took the Packers to 7-5 in his first year as head coach. The rest is history as he led the Green Bay Packers to the first two Super Bowl victories in NFL history, etching his name is forever on the Super Bowl trophy.

There is a direct correlation between our thoughts and outcomes in life. In the 1903 classic As A Man Thinketh, author James Allen illustrates the power of ones thoughts. “A man cannot directly chose his circumstances, but he can chose his thoughts, so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.”

In my two-year journey to Ghana, Africa I came across many who didn’t have the resources, education, and tangible goods many Americans take for granted. However, they are far more happy and content. Why? Happiness is a choice.  “Blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure of right thought; wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is the measure of wrong thought. A man may be cursed and rich; he may be blessed and poor.”

Very simply, we can’t choose our circumstances but we can choose how we view them, which indirectly shape our circumstances.

In Viktor Frankl’s best selling book, Man’s Search for Meaning, he details his experience in Nazi death camps and shares that in the darkest moments of life we still choose our state of thought.

“The experiences of camp life show that man does have a choice of action. There was enough examples, often of a heroic nature, which proved that apathy could be overcome, irritability suppressed. Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress.

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstance, to choose one’s own way.

“Even though conditions such as lack of sleep, insufficient food and various mental stresses may suggest that the inmates were bound to react in certain ways, in the final analysis it becomes clear that the sort of person the prisoner became was the results of an inner decision, and not the result of camp influences alone. Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him-mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp.”

David O. McKay said, “next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct that life is God’s greatest gift to man” Within the confines of whatever circumstances we find ourselves, we will always have the right to choose. The circumstances we find ourselves in don’t make us who we are, it’s how we respond and act to situations the build our character.

My Rating – 5/5

Should you read – Absolutely. It’s a quick read, easy to finish in one sitting. You could pull out a lot of quotes. Though it was written over 100 years it still has a direct application to today.

Good To Great - Jim Collins

Good to Great is considered to be one of the top business books of all time. Its in-depth analysis and stories show the rise of companies that made the leap to great. In the business landscape, there are lots of good companies, followed by better companies. Few make it to the ranks of great, and as the CEO of HireVue says constantly, “it’s easy to build a mediocre company, it’s hard to build a great company.”

It’s now 15 years since being published and some of the great companies have fallen from the great status. Circuit City failed to adapt to the surroundings and stopped following the things that made them great. Regardless of where the great companies are now, there is valuable lasting insight that will help you push your company to the next level, regardless the position you sit in.

Level 5 Leadership

Quiet, humble, modest, reserved, shy, gracious, mild-mannered, self-effacing, understated, not the typical attributes to describe CEO’s. The Good to Great companies didn’t have typical CEOs though; they had great CEOs with these traits. Level 5 leaders aren’t in for the fame or glory, but were ordinary people pushing the status quo to get great results. Collins references the window and the mirror example, similar to the doctor study from Shane Snow’s Smartcuts (previous post).  It’s easy to be a good leader, but do you have the rigor, not ruthlessness, to push your team and company and become a great leader, a level 5 leader.

Right people on the bus, in the right seats

Working in the talent acquisition space I’ve learned the importance of hiring the right people. Wrong hires cost millions to organizations, and hinder the progress of those around them. Collins gives the profound analogy of getting the right people on the bus. He even pushes a step further, the right people on the bus and in the right seats. If you have the right people on the bus the problem to motivate and manage almost goes away. “The moment you fill the need to tightly manage someone you've likely made a hiring mistake. The right people don't need to be managed or motivated.”

You still have to guide and teach employees while establishing an environment with guidelines they can flourish in. Collins gives the analogy of an air traffic controller. The task is to send and land airplanes. The most important thing is the result, which is safety. Controllers have freedom and responsibility within the framework of a highly developed system, and ensure the end goal is met.

Discipline

Everyday we have the right to choose. “Greatness is not primarily a function of circumstance, greatness is first and foremost a function of conscious choice and discipline.” Collins shares the story of Dave Scott, six time Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon winner. “In training, Scott would ride his bike 75 miles, swim 20,000 meters, and run 17 miles  - on average, every single day. Dave Scott did not have a weight problem! Yet he believed that a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet would give him an extra edge. So, Dave Scott - a man who burned at least 5,000 calories a day in training - would literally rinse his cottage cheese to get the extra fat off. Now, there is no evidence that he absolutely needed to rinse his cottage cheese to win the Ironman; that's not the point of the story. The point is that rinsing his cottage cheese was simply one more small step that he believed would make him just that much better, one more small step added to all the other small steps to create a consistent program of super discipline.”

What’s the cottage cheese in our life we need to rinse?

Creating a great company

CEO of LinkedIn, Jeff Weiner, created a Venn diagram outlining people he enjoys to work with.

As I read through Jim Collins book, I found it similar to the Venn diagram of how to take your company to the next level.

You need deep passion, discipline and an entrepreneurial spirit; otherwise you’re in the game for the wrong reasons.

It’s easy to be good, a little harder to better, but extremely hard to be the best. Do you want to be good, better or best?

My rating – 4/5

Should you read – You almost owe it to yourself to read Good to Great. As considered one of the classics, Good to Great has principles that anybody could use. With as much research you’re bound to find things applicable to yourself, and will enjoy the numerous stories. It was hard for me to keep the companies and CEOs straight, but it’s worth the investment and time.

Insanely Simple - Ken Segall

If you walk in to a Best Buy to purchase a laptop, it’s safe to say you will have plenty of options. In fact, Dell gives customers 26 laptop choices, HP gives 41. Having that many similar products complicates decision for customers. On the contrary, Apple gives its laptop customers very few choices. The only choice one has to make is whether he/she wants a thin one or a little thicker and more powerful one? How does it work out for them you may ask. Apple makes more money than Dell and HP combined.

Ken Segall’s book, Insanely Simple, he focuses on experiences with Steve Jobs as he observed Apple from an outside prospective. In Job’s return to Apple for his second stint in 1997 the challenge was that Apple was making 20 distinct products. It was complicated. He decided to kill almost the entire product line. He decided that Apple will make only four things – home version and pro version of laptop and desktop – and build them well.

Job’s used to say, “Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to remove.”

Simplicity has a universal appeal and Apple has a deep-rooted belief in it, consider iTunes.  When Microsoft created the rival to iTunes, the Zune Store, it offered Microsoft points for their music playing devices. It required customers to purchase points by the 100's and then use a conversion rate of 80 points to the dollar to buy a $.99 cent song. The formula confused buyers and Zune is now unavailable.

Often times Apple employees would walk away from meetings with Jobs after being hit with the ‘simple stick.’ “Steve had rejected their work – not because it was bad but because in some way it failed to distill the idea to its essence. It took a turn when it should have travelled in a straight line.” 

Simplicity is an all or none proposition and is the ultimate efficiency. As you prepare for meetings, ask yourself if Jobs would hit you with the simple stick. It’s worked wonders for Apple, it could work wonders for you.

My Rating – 3/5

Should you read – I love Apple products, but by the end of the book I was tired of Steve Jobs stories. His ability to make the companies he headed great was an ability only few in the world share. However, the book can easily be put into an abstract or summary, and though you’ll miss some of the entertaining Steve Jobs stories, the core of the message will still come out.

Essentialism - Greg McKeown

The More the merrier. The bigger the better. Two common phrases pushing Americans every day. In theory, the phrases make sense. But why does it have to be that way? What if we started pursing less but better? As Greg McKeown puts it, “It is not about getting more things done, it is about getting the right things done.”

Often we find ourselves falling into the trap of pursing an idea or project in which we’ve invested too much to turn back or start over. “Abandoning a project you’ve invested a lot in feels like you’ve wasted everything, and waste is something we are supposed to avoid.

McKeown illustrates this point by sharing an example from a professor at Ohio State University.  Imagine you bought a $100 ski pass for a trip in Michigan. Several weeks later you buy a pass for $50 for a trip in Wisconsin (both very bad ski states in comparison to home in SLC). You think you’ll enjoy the Wisconsin ski trip more than Michigan. As you put the pass in your wallet you realize the ski passes are for the same day. Which trip do go you on?

In every class the professor surveys, more than half will go with Michigan because they feel like they will be wasting money. Often we overemphasize our options over our power to choose.  As humans we fundamentally have the option to chose, it’s how we discipline ourselves to pursing what’s essential that determines our trajectory in life.

McKeown goes through various ways to determine and follow what’s essential. One is to create disciplined routines. Michael Phelps famously followed this pre-swim routine before every race. By the time he entered the water for the race he had already successfully completed his routine, and this was just the final step of the total performance.

Phelps learned how to cut out distractions and focus on getting the best results. He eliminated his “slowest hiker.” Imagine you're a Scout Master and are taking your troop on a 10 mile hike and need to arrive at camp before sunset. They start out and of course some of the scouts are moving faster than others. Soon there is a huge gap between the slow and faster scouts. One boy, Herbie, is really behind everyone.

You stop the faster scouts and have them wait for Herbie. Now they are all together but within minutes the problem is recreated. 

You decide to put Herbie in the lead and all others follow behind him. Problem fixed - right? No. Now they will never reach camp before sunset. How do you proceed?

Knowing Herbie is the key, you take all the stuff out of Herbie's pack and distributes it amongst the troop. Herbie can now move fast enough to get to camp by sunset but not faster than the others, and thus leads the group into camp on time.

In your life, who or what are your Herbies. To be a true essentialist, find a way to eliminate the things slowing you down. Focus on less but better pursuits, and soon you'll find the quality of work and relationships will be taken to the next level.

My Rating - 4/5

Should you read - A lot of the reviews I read mentioned the book should have followed suit by putting only the essentials in. There are things that are common sense, for instance sleep more. However, the basis of the book is good and I've applied some of what he mentions and have tried to cut off unessential items and feel more productive and happier. If you feel overwhelmed, can't say no to people, and are 'busy' all the time, then this book would be a good pick up for you.

Smartcuts - Shane Snow

You’re driving down the road in a severe thunderstorm. It’s cold, dark and the next town is 30 minutes away. As you drive around the curve you come across three people standing in the rain with no umbrella. The first is an old woman, frail and on the verge of collapsing. The second is a friend who once saved your life. The final is your romantic interest you’ve been chasing for the past four years.

You have room for one person, who do you pickup?

Most people I have talked to say the old woman. In Smartcuts, Shane Snow teaches and gives examples on challenging assumptions and learning to attack problems from different angles. The old saying goes, when you assume you make an ass out of you and me. So what’s the answer?

You give the open seat to the grandma, but then proceed to give your keys to your friend so he can drive her home. You then stand in the rain with your romantic interest and wait for the bus.

Challenge assumptions, and challenge them ethically. Attack problems by questioning basic assumptions and new ideas emerge. There is a difference between taking shortcuts vs. what Snow calls smartcuts. Shortcuts are rapid short-term gains with no regard on how to obtain them. Smartcuts are sustainable and predictable successes achieved quickly through smart work, or shortcuts with ethics.

Consider the path various Presidents have taken before reaching office. Many people assume they work their way through the political ladder before putting their name in the presidential hat.  Though some presidents take this path, many have jumped around from profession to profession before landing in the Oval Office. We’ve had former army generals, university presidents, and even actors. So what’s the one thing they all have in common? They all have the ability to lead successfully in different situations and positions.

Often times we plan to follow a linear progression up the ladder to the top. As the picture below shows, that is rarely the case and our path seldom follows the strategy we set for ourselves.

To start challenging every day assumptions, a place to begin is feedback and failure. Silicon Valley clings to the saying, “fail fast and fail often.” Doctors are under pressure every day to perform literally life or death procedures. Wrong moves or practices could cost someone their life, and could bring a lawsuit for malpractice. In observing doctors, Snow found a peculiar finding about failing and the lessons learned.

As one doctor came out of an unsuccessful surgery, he felt he couldn’t have done anything more in his power. The doctors who observed the surgery however saw things and made mental notes on various practices to avoid in their upcoming surgeries. On the other side, if a surgery was successful the doctors attributed it to their skills and abilities.

Snow found when people lose, they lose because of external reasons. When you win, you win because of internal reasons. Think back to the 2014 NFL divisional playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. With under 5 minutes to go and Dallas down by 5, Dallas decided to go for it on 4th-and-1. Expecting a run, the Packers defense loaded the box. As Tony Romo took the snap, all pro wide receiver Dez Bryant took off in a sprint down the left sideline. With one-on-one coverage and no safety to help corner back Sam Shields, Romo threw the ball 40 yards down field. Bryant soared in the air, making an incredible bobbling grab over Shields. On the way to the ground, Bryant reaches out to the end zone. As the ball touches the ground it moves slightly from his hand, forcing the refs to call it an incomplete pass. The Packers went on to win the game. After the game was over, social media was on fire debating whether it was a catch. Every Dallas Cowboys fan said they lost because of the refs. On the other side of the ball, Packers fans said they won because they were the better team and played better.

When doctors fail, the blame is on external reasons. When businesses fail, it's because the the market wasn't right, or we didn't have the right people on the bus. When businesses succeed, it's because of hard work and leadership. Personal failures are not the best teaching points in life, other peoples failures are. If you fail, look past the external reasons and truly examine the internal reasons. Those are true teaching points.

My rating – 4.5/5

Should you read – Simply put, yes. Snow tells stories that have a direct correlation to challenging the assumptions we face everyday to make better, wiser and more intuitive decisions. It’s a fairly quick read, and Snow writes as if he is talking to you in a casual conversation.

Leaders Eat Last - Simon Sinek

“Leadership is not a license to do less, it’s a responsibility to do more.” This powerful quote is an insight to the stories, analogies and examples Simon Sinek uses to portray what it means to be a leader. At times we strive to attain higher positions, as from the outside it seems to provide more of the comforts of life; money, perks, power. However, “the cost of leadership is self interest.”

Sinek tells a powerful anecdote of a ceramic cup and the former Under Secretary of Defense. Speaking at a conference the gentleman shares how at the prior years event he was flown first class, escorted by drivers everywhere and was given coffee in a nice ceramic cup. A year later he had resigned from his position and returned to speak. This time, the man flew coach, no one was there to escort him around, and he fetched his own coffee in a cheap styrofoam cup.

"It occurs to me, the ceramic cup they gave me last year was never meant for me at all. It was meant for the position I held. I deserve a Styrofoam cup. All the perks, all the benefits and advantages you may get for the rank or position you hold, they aren’t meant for you. They are meant for the role you fill. And when you leave your role, which eventually you will, they will give the ceramic cup to the person who replaces you. Because you only ever deserved a Styrofoam cup."

At the end of the journey, one must realize “a leaders legacy is only as strong as the foundation they leave behind that allows others to advance the organization.”

To effectively lead the people, employees must genuinely believe you have their back.  You can’t tell someone to be happy and expect them to be happy, the same similarities exist with trust. A cheetah has a clear advantage over a pack of gazelle that are spread out across the African dessert, each only watching their own back. How much more powerful could they be if they grouped together and formed a pack?

“No one wakes up in the morning with the hope that someone will manage us. We wake up in the morning with the hope that someone will lead us.” Your people build your company. Better products, services and innovations are a result of employees who invent and innovate. Employees who invent and innovate are the direct result of leaders who truly lead.

Leadership is not a license to do less, it’s a responsibility to do more.

My rating – 3.5/5

Should you read – Sinek provides incredible stories, but at times gets side tracked and dives into politics and how to turn around the country. He has a tangent on various generations and what they brought to the table. The link to his talk about the same topic of Leaders Eat Last is here. If you love the talk read the book, if not the reviews and stories can be found online and will be sufficient.