RyanWallPaper

For ALL High School & College Students.

I recently purchased Daniel Pink's radical release: The Adventures of Johnny Bunko. This books is brilliant in content, even more brilliant in creativity and a breeze to read. I read slow and probably nailed it in 30 minutes. Sara Grace knocked it out in 15minutes.

In the book Pink teams up with Rob Ten Pas who is a Manga (learn about it here) artist. The book is told like a modern day comic and it is very sticky (you will remember the points). This is probably the best book in publication for career advice. It's not a bore, but a blast. Buy this book for any high school or college student, especially your own children. Beware that much of it goes against the old-school thoughts of previous generations. This book is real to what the youth really should be thinking in regard to their future - regardless of what they are being told elsewhere. Academia has not been addressing what Pink does in this book much because educators assume the students are already studying in the area of their strengths. Newsflash! Many are not. Too often they study what they do because society or Mom/Dad told them it was the proper route to go. Do not let your kids make that mistake.

Get Johnny Bunko to the masses and help the next generation be the best, brightest and most inspired generation ever. The future businesses, societies and the arts will be grateful. This book is also great for most of the world (regardless of age) who never got this advice and have found themselves in a dreadful career.

Check out this YouTube video that Pink created to promote Bunko.

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Pass this post on to everyone you know and help the future.

Know the Difference

In my last post, I told you that the opposite of a leader was a pessimist and/or skeptic. Over time, I have had conversations with people about this very topic.The ones that do not agree with me (and that is "A" OK) are those that desire to be a leader, but lack the necessary optimism. I come away from those conversations only further affirmed in my beliefs on leadership.

Recently I had someone tell me, "well you know I chose Jim to be in a senior position because in my mind, he has a skepticism that helps him be a better leader." I continued to listen to my friend and value his thoughts. As he unpacked his decision further, I could tell he had made the right call by choosing Jim. You see, Jim is actually not a skeptic, he is just very inquisitive. I clarified the difference between the two. My friend's response - "I totally get what you were saying, because Jim is constantly making things better for the people and inspiring them to grow..and when he asks me questions, they always make sense and are never a nuisance."

There is a strong difference between being skeptical and being inquisitive. Someone who is inquisitive, actually has an additive to their leadership qualities. Skeptics doubt the process, doubt the future, doubt others. Inquisitive people challenge the process, ask a lot of quality questions to better understand things. This better understanding is ammunition for their drive to make things better. Those things that become better are elements of the future. You see the pattern here - that inquisition only powers their leadership ability.

Give me someone with future focused positivity and a desire to ask the right questions - and I can show you attributes of a leader.

Choose an inquisitive person for your leadership roles and be cautious about placing the skeptics in such a role.

The Opposite of A Leader

If you visit this blog regularly you are well aware that my posts are related to what makes for an effective leader, business effectiveness and personal development. If this is a first visit for you, go through some of the archives for a quick read of ryanwallpaper.

How about what a leader isn't? The opposite of a leader is a pessimist! "Skeptic" works just as well. I am often asked by young aspiring people - Are leaders made or born? I think "both" is the best answer for many reasons. It is almost a "what came first - the chicken or the egg?" type of question. I do believe that there are several natural qualities that a leader has to have. The most important I feel is that of Optimism. The world's greatest leaders past, present and future ALL have an innate optimism towards the possibilities of the future. Leaders believe in improvement, they are unsettled by mediocrity, they have an appetite to generate change (just about the time the followers get comfortable from previous change). The status quo is an annoyance. This is all because they believe things can always be better. They have a positive view of what can be.

Marcus Buckingham states it perfectly in The One Thing You Need to Know when he writes the following:
"'I am not satisfied.' This is the mantra of the leader. As a leader you are never satisfied with the present, because in your head you can see a better future, and the friction between the 'what is' and the 'what could be' burns you, stirs you up, propels you forward. This is leadership."

This reality of a better future originates from a bend of optimism that lives within them. I do agree that we can work with negative people and provide or get them the appropriate counseling to dislodge their negativity. As you help said individual get over their negativity, understand that you might be making them "less negative" and that is not the same as positive. "Less negative" likely lands someone in the rank of average. As my friend Chad Eudy says: "Average is just as close to the bottom as it is to the top."

Skeptics can bring value to an organization. Let them serve in that role to help make you better. Imagine them like an on-board customer that finds things that other customers may not like. Perhaps put them in the legal side of your business. Please do not let them lead others - they will not be effective and will wear other people out.

Do you have a natural belief that you can make the future better? Do you have people leading your teams with a tendency toward positivity?

Is your company infected with negativity?

Research great leaders who led causes and companies to a much better future and you will find optimism through and through their nature. Here a few you can research:
Mother Teresa
William Wilberforce
Martin Luther King Jr.
Howard Schultz
Danny Meyer

Make Something Better

In Daniel Pink's Book, A Whole New Mind he tells us of many things to do in order to exercise our creativity. Many of you may be thinking -- "Well, wait a minute, I am not the creative type." I am telling you that you are. If you really want to see why, read Daniel's book and you will get a better understanding of your creative power and how to improve it or at least bring it to surface.

One of the things he talks about is finding something that you would design differently, take a picture of it and come up with your own way to make it more effective. When I heard of this, I had an excuse to post this regarding something that has always bothered me as a customer. See the following picture (click to enhance):

This is the top of the trash container @ Moe's Mexican Grill. I have always been a fan of Moe's food, but every time I go to trash my mess, I am disgusted by the concentration of ABS (already been served) food that gathers around the tiny opening they call a trash container. This is a perfect example of poor design that creates a gnarly customer experience every time (unless you do not throw your trash away).

Look at this next image (click to enhance):

Now, I cheated a bit. I did not design this myself. I took this photo two days after visiting Moe's. This actually comes from top competitor "Chipotle" Look at the difference. Not only do you have a very large container opening, you have a tray for your tray and a tray for your basket. Notice the usage of aluminum which creates a clean line. They use a hip RED font to tell customers to not throw the baskets away. this is superb design and does not take away from the customer experience. I imagine Moe's has such a poor design to keep people from throwing baskets away. Chipotle apparently trusts their customers more while avoiding the grotesque experience of ABS food caked around the visual surface of the container.

Next time you are designing a product or even a service, think through the customer's experience from every step they make while being with you. Also, review your current designs closely and ask a few random customers what they think about your stuff (that's free research). If you are meticulous enough, you will not have to worry about customers like me picking up something this detailed. Thankful to be in the service business.

If you find something that is poorly designed that takes away from the customer experience, please email it to me. I will post it and make suggestions on how to do it better. Maybe you will do what I did and actually find a better design. Send me those pics too.

Leave the Office

One of the most exciting items of my marriage is the woman I get to learn from. Sara Grace is the key leader in my life and I am so thankful for this. Those of you who know her can certainly understand this, those of you who do not, you are missing out. For now, I will share one of the great things I appreciate about her leadership.

Sara Grace led an awesome team @ EQUIP for several years. She and her team literally improved the lives of millions of leaders all over the globe. Much like most organizations, they had an office comprised of the good ol' cubes and outer doored offices around the edges. You get the picture. Sara Grace is not a total office junkie as is the same with a majority of your GEN X,Y team members. In this interest, some of the best leading and development she did was when she left the office. Only it was not about leaving at the end of the day, it was about leaving during the day.

Here is what she did: Often she would set up daily off-sites with her team members. One at a time. They had a myriad of action items to work on and you can rest assured that it was activity packed and dealing with high level items.

A key thing to understand was that a portion of her time was spent really connecting with her team member. It was much about seeing how they were really doing, what they really want to do, how they really feel about things and how she could serve them better.

Leaving the office cuts out noise and creates room to really get things done. The new environment has a better chance of sparking new ideas, releasing creativity, breaking down any barriers and of course it fosters an emotional benefit on behalf of the leader and the team member.

Do this very soon. To start with, you do not even have to take an entire day. Maybe you begin with a two hour lunch and build it from there. Get it to a point where it becomes part of your monthly leadership process.

Be sure to add these elements:
1) Allow your team member to pick the meeting place. Chances are they have a different favorite place than you do.

2) Require them to bring questions to ask of you regarding:
- their personal growth and how you can help them
- what they are currently most challenged with.
- what they are most excited about.

To learn more about what Sara Grace is reading and learning, check the books on the side bar (to your left!)
A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
Make the Impossible Possible by Bill Strickland

Retreat To Your Beginner's Mind

Where did all the beginners go? You may find yourself asking this question if you have traveled the leadership journey for a few years now. Chances are you have learned a lot more I hope and so have those around you. Well, as you grow closer to expert status - WATCH OUT because your expert mindset might just become a liability.

Experts believe they have learned all the ways NOT to do something which gives them limited creativity to try a new thing. The reluctance to try new things, especially if you are a forward thinker...will become a liability to you. It will simply limit your potential, your personal brand and your innovation.

Creativity is necessary for most leaders today. It might be creativity in casting a new vision, creativity in communicating to others, creativity in package or service design. Creativity is essential. It is attractive to your people and it provides competitive advantage.

To reach all of this, a beginners mind is necessary. Check out the following thoughts from a book I am studying by Garr Reynolds:

One who approaches life with a beginner's mind is fresh, enthusiastic, and open to the vast possibilities of ideas and solutions before them. If you approach creative tasks with the beginner's mind, you can see things more clearly as they are, unburdened by your fixed view, habits, or what conventional wisdom says it is (or should be). One who possesses a beginner's mind is not burdened by old habits or obsessed about "the way things are done around here" or with the way things could have or should have been done. A beginner is open and receptive and is more inclined to say "why not" or "let's give it a shot," rather than "it's never been done" or "that's not common."

The fear of making a mistake, or risking an error, or of being told you are wrong is constantly with us. And that's a shame. Making mistakes is not the same thing as being creative, but if you are not willing to make mistakes, then it is impossible to be truly creative.

All of this is spot on. I am recommending to myself and all of you that we be sure to surround ourselves with people who have a beginner's mind. A beginner's mind is a strength, not a limitation. They are more fun to work with, more inspiring and self motivated. You might have to pull them back several times, but that is a lot easier than pushing a rope.

After all, I have found that TRUE EXPERTS have a beginners mind. That is one of the elements that has made them so good!

Thanks for reading - especially all the new visitors. Let's Begin!