Re:Focus

Cats and Dogs or Do You Know Your Mission From Your Vision?

What's the difference between a cat and a dog?

We know they are similar in many respects. For example, they are both mammals, they are both common pets, they are both furry and they both have four legs and a tail. But without getting into the biology, the differences are harder to explain. We know they are different, very different, it's just hard to put into words.  Unlike when we explain the similarities, when we explain the differences we start to describe their personalities more and the superficial differences less.  For example, cats tend to look after themselves more and dogs need more attention. Cats act cool. Dogs are more excitable.

The same is true of mission statements and vision statements.  It's easy to describe how they are similar - it's mostly superficial description.  For example - they are both statements intended to give the people in an organization a sense of purpose or direction. Now explain the differences.

And that's the problem. For some, their definition of a vision is the same definition someone else gives for a mission.  And which is supposed to come first - that's a whole debate unto itself.  Because we we share a common definition of a cat and a dog - any mention of either means we all understand the reference.  But because mission and vision lack common definitions, it's impossible to have a discussion about them...or even say what one is.

This is the reason I rarely if ever use either term - because I can't be sure everyone will know what I'm talking about.  And the first rule of communication is that what people think you mean is what you intended to mean.  Without that, all you have is miscommunication...and that's exactly what most vision and mission statements produce. That's the reason they are generally useless in most organizations. 

To describe the purpose or cause of an organization, I call it the WHY - something with a common definition that we can all agree on.  And to describe the steps an organization will take to make its WHY a reality - those are called the HOWs.  Easy to understand.

If we want to be strict, a vision is the public statement an organization uses to describe its WHY. It should have nothing to do with what the organization does, the products it produces or the services it offers.  It should have no comparative language like better or best.  It shouldn't be about the organization at all, in fact.  It should be about the world those in the organization imagine. The world they want to build.  That's the reason it's called a vision - it's something you can see - something far away that does not exist yet.  "What's your vision?" means tell me what the world looks like if everything goes your way.

Strictly speaking, the mission is HOW you intend to get there. That's where the rubber meets the road.  That's the point at which you can talk about your strategies or your process or your differentiating value proposition.  The mission, like in the military, is literally the task you're undertaking to advance some greater cause.  The mission advances the vision.

If we use the terms WHY and HOW instead of vision and mission, clarity goes up and no one will fight like cats and dogs anymore...if you know what I mean.

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I Lost My Faith

It was a perfect day. Not a cloud in the sky. It was unseasonably warm considering it's still spring. The sun was shining and everyone was in a good mood.

I was running late for a meeting and was walking more briskly than usual to catch the subway. As I stood on the corner of 86th street and 2nd avenue waiting for the light to change, I saw a crowd gathered across the street. An old man had apparently fallen and was having a hard time getting back up. His cane was on the ground and his bag of medications was also laying there. He was on his hands and knees struggling...but not one of the 15 or so people standing around was helping him.

One girl stood over him, as if to offer emotional support by cheering him on.  But she didn't help him. Others pulled out their cell phones offering to call an ambulance. "I think I should call an ambulance," one man kept saying. "I think we should call an ambulance," he repeated while looking to others for permission to act.

Yet no one bent down to help him up.

I crossed the street, knelt down, put the package I had under my arm down on the asphalt, leaned in and asked the man if he was hurt.

"No," he replied, "I'm just having trouble getting back up."

I asked again to be sure. "Everything feel ok?"

"I'll be bruised from the fall," he confirmed, "but I'm ok."

So I put my arm under his and helped him up. I beckoned to the cheerleader to help me. She took his other arm and together we pulled the man to his feet.  We held him while he steadied himself and I reassured him that I wouldn't let go until he had his balance back. The cheerleader picked up the cane and handed it to him. Another women stepped forward and pointed to the pharmacy bag on the street saying in a near shrill, "that's his bag!" Yet she didn't bend down to pick it up.  I snapped at her, "don't point at it, pick it up." She didn't, but someone else did.

Shaken but ok, the man regained his balance. He took his bag, and started to shuffle away.  I asked him one last time, "are you ok?"  "Yes," he replied, and continued on.

I picked up my package and carried on with my day.  But my day was no longer a normal day. The sun was shining, yes, but I wasn't happy. Now more than a block away from the scene, I was still muttering obscenities meant for the crowd under my breath. I couldn't believe what I witnessed. My eyes welled up. I felt ashamed.  I felt sad. I know we blame selfishness and a lack of a sense for the greater good as reasons behind the weakness in banking and our economic troubles.  I know we think that food corporations think more about themselves than they do about others when they decide to put partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup in our foods. But has that sentiment really boiled down to the general population?  Are the bankers and the food corporations simply reflecting what the rest of us have become?  Forget about helping, have we REALLY all lost our compassion for each other? Is our humanity shot to a point that we can't even kneel down to ask an old man if he is ok?

I am an optimist, but on this day my faith was shaken.  

But...I am still an optimist. Yes, something is horribly wrong.  Yes, the world we live in is not yet the world I want to live in.  But I am an optimist and I can still clearly imagine that world.  Though my faith was shaken on this day, it is not broken.  We must stop at nothing to find those who will help us turn the tide. We must not shout at those with whom we disagree.  We must not point fingers and cast blame. We must not throw stones.  Instead, we must become what we imagine.  We must work together to inspire each other and inspire those around us.  We must take it upon ourselves to build the companies that genuinely care about their employees, truly care about their customers and consider the greater good before making decisions.  We must run for office and be the kind of politicians that inspire communities for the good of the country instead of manipulating communities for the good of a political career.

And most importantly, we must reshape our world so that when an old man falls on the street, any one of us would bend down to help him up.

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Learn Leadership By Riding the Subway

It turns out you can learn a lot about leadership by riding the subway. The subway systems in London and New York, for example, have a lot in common: both serve the largest cities in their respective countries; both systems are over 100 years old; both are shining examples of an effective, modern public transportation system — but only one of them acts like a leader.

When a train stops in New York, an announcement will come on apologizing “for the unavoidable delay.” The recorded message will continue to urge passengers to “please be patient, we will be moving momentarily.” If the delay continues, the same recorded message will repeat again and again until the train finally moves.

It’s very different in London. When an Underground train stops, a human being comes on over the PA system and tells you what he knows. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he may say, “sorry for the delay. I’ve just been given word that someone has fallen on the tracks at the station ahead. We know that the paramedics are on their way but they are not there yet. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait here until they arrive and clear the track. I’ll keep you updated on any information as I get it. Thank you for your patience.”

Both apologize for the delay and both thank passengers for their patience, but only aboard the London Underground are passengers given the reason for the delay. Only the Tube is sharing information with the people in a normal way — and it makes a huge difference.

More information is always better than less. When people know the reason things are happening, even if it’s bad news, they can adjust their expectations and react accordingly. Keeping people in the dark only serves to stir negative emotions. In New York, almost immediately, passengers start looking at their watches and muttering unsavory language under their breath. Some do it out loud. Some people start to get anxious. What if it’s a bomb? What if we’re stuck here all day? What are we going to do? Without any information, people create their own. And that’s what causes fear, paranoia and anger.

In London, the passengers may be frustrated by the delay, but they don’t react the same way. They are more relaxed and they deal with the situation with much less stress.

Sharing information is what a good leader does, even if he doesn’t know the whole story. Share the context for the situation people find themselves in, and the reaction of your colleagues will be very different than if you don’t. Keep people in the dark and they’ll see you as the enemy. Keep them abreast of what you know and they will see you in the same predicament as themselves. This creates camaraderie. More importantly, if they know more, they are more likely to help fix or alleviate the situation and get things done — all because you took the time to make a short, honest announcement.

This article originally appeared in my Logistics of Leadership column at askmen.com

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How Do You Clean Lettuce?

If you want to work in the kitchen of the Refectory, you will be judged on how you clean lettuce.

The Refectory is one of the finest restaurants in Columbus, Ohio. One of the primary reasons it is able to maintain its position is because of how well its kitchen runs.  A great chef with a poor kitchen is like a great idea that never happens. And the reason the kitchen at the Refectory runs so well all boils down to the lettuce.

There are lots of young chefs who want to come and work at the Refectory and when they start, the first job they are given is to clean lettuce. As the owner, Kamal Boulos, explains, over the years he noticed a pattern.  The young chefs all sift out into one of three groups.

Group 1: "I'm too good for this."

Some assigned to the lettuce are not happy about it. They believe that cleaning lettuce is beneath them and they do it begrudgingly.  They complain and whine the whole time they are cleaning lettuce.

Group 2: "It is what it is."

Another group aren't happy about cleaning the lettuce, but they suck it up and get it done.  They may crack jokes the whole time and mock the process, but they don't complain about it.

Group 3: "I'm proud to be here."

The final group, regardless of their previous qualifications, embrace the job. They learn about the various kinds of lettuce, they come up with new ways to get the job done.  They embrace their role, they celebrate their cog in the machine, and they work with a focus as if lettuce cleaning was their chosen career.  They are proud to be a part of the kitchen and they will work their hardest regardless of the task assigned to them.

In reality, the Chef de Cuisine just wants his lettuce cleaned and he doesn't much care if someone cares to do the job or not (such is life in a fast-paced restaurant kitchen).  Though all may be perfectly competent  at cleaning lettuce, the one who will end up with a job at the Refectory is the one who is proud to serve, regardless of their role in the kitchen.

There is something to be said for how someone approaches their job, regardless of what it is. Ego can get in the way - not in terms of the quality of the job being performed, but in terms of the value to the organization at large. Too many organizations cling to the big egos because they are good at what they do. But that doesn't mean they are good for the organization.

The main reason Kamal Boulos wants to hire young chefs from group 3 is because in each job, the person performing that job is also responsible for training the person who will replace them. It's not just a skill set they are passing on, it's also an attitude. A bad attitude will beget a bad attitude. Or worse, if someone is hired only to clean lettuce, then how will he feel when the person training him thinks less of the work...does it mean he also thinks less of the person responsible for that work?

Over-sized egos may be good at what they do, but they can also be cancer in an organization. And the best organizations are not made up of dream-teams of brilliant independent minds all focused on themselves; they are made up of people absolutely devoted to the cause, the organization and each other.

If you're interested in reading more about the people who take great pride in their work, there is a great book called the Fred Factor filled with stories of people who love what they do...no matter what they do. 

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Overestimate Your Potential

There is real value in idealism.  Not simply for the vision that some idealists possess, but for the optimism that all idealists have.

The idealist, by definition, overestimates what is possible.  The realist, in contrast, estimates exactly what is possible (sometimes a little less, just to be safe).

At the end of the day, reality will prevail; you can count on it. So why do we need to help it along?  What if we were all idealists? What if we were all optimists?  What if we all overestimated what we were capable of...what would happen?

Great leaders are all idealists. They are all optimists. This is why they lead, because they overestimate what we are capable of and inspire us to believe the same. They spark something inside us that sets us on a path to become our true selves and achieve what we are TRULY capable of achieving, which is usually something vastly greater than is realistically possible.

This classic clip of Viktor Frankl says it all.

Frankl was a Holocaust survivor. While in a concentration camp, he was curious why some people had the will to live and others didn't.  His book (link below) is not a Holocaust account, it is a study of man. Given the extremity of the situation it makes a remarkably compelling case for a lesson we can apply to nearly every aspect of our lives: We cannot control the circumstances that happen around us, all we can control is our attitude.

If you're an entrepreneur, a student, a teacher, if you work for a corporation, are in the military, work for a non-profit or are in any other group I didn't mention, you must read this book.

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The Value Formula

In 1994, Michael Fay, an 18 year old living in Singapore with his father, was sentenced to caning for theft and vandalism.  A common sentence in Singapore for the crimes, it was the first time the sentence was handed down to an American citizen. As a result, the case became a national spectacle and caused some diplomatic tensions between the US and Singapore for quite a long time.

If you can put aside your opinions about corporal punishment for just a moment, consider the impact of the balance between the punishment and the crime.  In the West, we believe the punishment should fit the crime.  In Singapore, in contrast, they believe the punishment should vastly outweigh the crime. As a result, Singapore has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Theft and vandalism are very rare occurrences there precisely because the punishment feels completely out of balance with the crime. 

There is no metric or calculation for a crime and the punishment it should receive. We simply draw an equals sign between the two and tinker with the punishment until it feels equal to the crime. But, as Singapore proves, the deterrent effect of punishment is vastly more effective when the punishment does not feel equal to the crime.

This is not, however, a piece about crime and punishment.  It is about value. More specifically, how we calculate it. Like crime and punishment, there is no metric or measurement to calculate value, it's a feeling. The problem is most companies perceive value like the Western notion of crime and punishment - they believe value is created when what you get and what you pay feel equal. This is the reason companies like to justify their cost by listing all the stuff you get.  "The reason this one is more expensive is because we use superior materials and better engineering," etc, etc, etc. More features, more benefits, more stuff on the list all in an attempt to create a rational, measurable calculation of value. How many times has someone said to you, "look what you get for the money," when trying to convince you to buy? They trying to force you to do a rational calculation to justify the cost.

In reality, value is a feeling.  And that feeling is created when someone perceives (not calculates) that what they are getting vastly outweighs what they are paying. If it were a calculation of getting more than you pay, we wouldn't call it value, we'd call it a bargain. And because value is a feeling, it takes more than stuff to have someone feel they are getting more. It takes a belief in the product, trust in the company, a sense of their WHY.  The more integrity a company or salesperson has, the clearer the WHY, the more belief and passion they have for their own company or products, the more imbalance exists and the greater the feeling of value.

This is the reason we feel we get more from Southwest Airlines even when they are not the cheapest. We feel we get more from Apple even though we can get more memory and speed for less money from other computer companies.  We feel Lego is worth the price even though you can get building blocks from other companies.  And Disney is not the only company that makes stuff for kids, but we feel their value is greater.

Sadly, a total misunderstanding of how to create value is the reason most purchases we make feel like...well...torture.

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Real Leaders Serve

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” implored John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address in 1961. On that day, Kennedy did more than ask us to serve our country, he asked us to lead our country so that our country could lead.

This is the irony to being a good leader and great leadership. The truly effective and inspiring leaders aren’t actually driven to lead people; they are driven to serve them. It is this subtle twist of logic that earns a good leader the loyalty and respect of those who ultimately serve them back. For a leader to be a leader he needs a following. And why should any individual want to follow another individual unless they felt that person would look out for them and their interests?

If you have anyone who reports to you at work, be it one person or 100, your job, if you want to be a good leader, is to help them be good at their job. This doesn’t mean doing their work for them; it means helping them get the resources and the information they need for them to perform their own jobs as well as they can. It also means watching their back and helping them fix mistakes when they make them. The more you do that, the more you will earn their trust so when you need them to go the extra mile for you, they will -- gladly. Not because you’re their boss, but because they respect and trust you.

Leadership is as much an environment as it is a practice. People should generally feel that you’re there to help them be the best version of themselves. A good leader builds a culture of service (i.e., if anyone asks for help or reveals that they don’t know something, someone will be there to support them). A leader’s job is not to do the work for others, it’s to help others figure out how to do it themselves, to get things done, and to succeed beyond what they thought possible.

Leaders lead not because they serve those above them; they lead because they serve those who serve them.

This article first appeared in my regular column, The Logistics of Leadership on askmen.com

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Celebrate Yourself

My first apartment in New York was pretty amazing.  It was a fairly large studio (based on New York standards) on the top floor of a four-floor walk up on the Upper East Side. The price was great too, $825 per month. This was nearly unheard of in a city in which studios half the size of mine usually cost double to rent.  The bathroom even had a skylight which meant I could pee by moonlight in the middle of the night.   It really was the perfect apartment...except for one thing.  There was a heating pipe that went straight through the bathroom.

It was a big, thick heating pipe that sat nearly 6 inches away from the wall…so it didn’t exactly blend it.  I couldn’t hang anything on it because it got so hot in the winter, it would burn anything that came near it.   It was awful.  It was painted white – the same color as the walls – but it still stuck out like a sore thumb.  This huge, horsey, hot heating pipe was like a big mole on the face of my little bathroom – you just had to stare at it. I couldn’t cover it up, there was no way I could get it to blend in.  So I opted for a new strategy. I painted it red.  Fire-engine red.  I figured if I couldn’t get it to blend in, I’d make it stand out.  And it worked. 

I hated that white pipe but I loved the red one.  Everyone loved the red pipe. Friends who would visit for the first time used to say, “too bad about that pipe” would now say, “I love that pipe.”  That pipe also taught me valuable lesson: the greatest thing about not fitting is that you don’t fit in.   

I recently wrote a piece about the misfits - the left-siders.  The left-siders are like the human version of the heating pipe.  Others can easily see we don't belong and too often we believe them. What makes us different will always set us  apart even if we try to blend in.  But if we follow the lesson of the red heating pipe, must embrace our misfitedness, point to it ourselves and celebrate it. When we paint it bright red, make it stand out even more, people start to admire us for the very same thing they used to mock or fear.  They end up loving us for that thing.  Maybe it's because deep down, everyone feels like a misfit, some people's misfit is just more obvious than others.  And maybe because, on some level everyone feels a bit of a misfit, when the real misfits celebrate it, they make everyone else feel better about themselves.  And that's a good thing.  This is what Lady Gaga does.  This is what Steve Jobs does.  This is what Tim Burton does.  And Jim Henson and Salvador Dali and Batman.

Only when we paint the thing that doesn't fit bright red does it become a thing of beauty.

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The Empowered Employee

I had just finished my breakfast at 3 Cups in Chapel Hill, NC - a cup of coffee and a biscuit. Getting ready to leave, I noticed they sold my new favorite brand of fancy chocolate, Askinosie. Being rather weak-willed when it comes to good chocolate, I picked up three bars of Askinosie Soconusco (highly recommended...it has cacao nibs on the top). I finished paying and was putting my money away when I noticed there were some little sample size Askinosies in a basket on the counter. I asked the young woman working behind the counter if they were free samples.

"No," she said, "they cost a $1 each." 

I put my hand back in my pocket to see if I had a dollar bill so I could get one.  I didn't.  A five was the smallest I had and only 3 quarters in the other pocket.  I didn't feel like breaking the bill. 

"Never mind," I said, "next time," as I turned to walk out. 

"Hold on," she said, "I'll buy you one."

She scanned the little chocolate and handed it to me with a smile.

I experienced something that I wish there was more of: the empowered employee. Empowered employees have the power to make decisions without a supervisor.  They are entitled to go off script, bend the rules, do what they see fit if they believe it is the right thing to do for the customer. More than any other kind of employee, the empowered employee is able to create a feeling of true customer service that ultimately yields much greater customer loyalty.

The irony of the empowered employee is that their empowerment has nothing to do with the employee. It's not a skill on their resume. There is no specific training required. Empowered employees exist as a result of the way a company is run. When the company has a strong culture born out of a set of clear values and beliefs and hires people who are good fits - who belong in their culture - then they are much more likely to trust their people to do the right thing. And that's exactly what they do.

In my case, this empowered employee spent the company's money. At most other stores, the eunuch working behind the counter would have just shrugged.  At 3 Cups, the employee decided to give a customer who just bought breakfast for two people and $23 worth of chocolate a $1 worth of chocolate on the house - a cost to the store of 50 cents at most.  As a result of the decision made by one empowered employee, one customer walked away smiling and then told thousands of people to go to 3 Cups the next time they happen to find themselves in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The alternative is not to empower your employees and save the 50 cents.

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Tell Santa (And Everyone Else)

During the holidays, a lot of kids get exactly what they want. And the reason is simple - because they tell Santa exactly what they want. In reality, Santa didn't get them anything. It was their parents who went to the store, stood in line, spent the money, wrapped the presents and made the wish come true.  Santa may get the credit, but the reason mom and dad were able to get it right is because kids don't just tell Santa what they want, they tell EVERYONE what they want.

The same still applies even when we grow up. We can still get exactly what we want if we tell everyone exactly what we want. But, for some reason, we stop telling everyone our hopes, dreams, desires and aspirations. Or, if we tell anyone, we only tell the people who we think can help. That's the same as kids only telling Santa and not their parents what they want for Christmas. And if that happens, the odds are not so great that the guy in a Santa suit working at the mall can ensure they will get exactly what they want.

The truth is, we have no idea where opportunity lies, who can help us fulfill our dreams or find the things we need.  The more people we tell, however, the more people can get involved and help make things happen.

I would love to speak at every business school and public policy school in America so that our future leaders will all know how to start with WHY before their careers get going. Know anyone who can help?

I would love to speak at universities across the country to inspire undergraduates how to figure out what to do when they get out of school - to show them how to pursue what inspires them. Know anyone who can help?

The people who make an impact in the world don't keep their ideas to themselves. They talk about their dreams incessantly. And everyone inspired by the dream will volunteer to help - for no other reason than because they too want to see those things happen.

Share what you would love to make happen. Tell me, tell everyone you know.  Who knows...maybe Santa will be listening.

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Short-Hand

Are you living the American Dream?

Here's a better question - how do you even know what the American Dream is?

The "American Dream" is the short-hand we use to refer to the promise America offers us.  It is deeply grounded in the founding purpose of the country: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Sure there are tangible things that go along with the American Dream - owning a house, starting a business, pursing any career you want - but all these things are proof the American Dream exists. 

At the end of the day, the American Dream is a feeling.  It is the emotional connection we have to the founding purpose of the nation.  And because it is a feeling, we struggle to put it into concise words.  So we develop a short-hand, some words that, by themselves, don't mean anything - but they label the feeling and become a simple way for us to talk about it.  It becomes a real tangible thing.

Companies with a strong sense of WHY - a strong sense of a higher purpose, cause or belief also have a short-hand to refer to the emotional bond the employees and the customers have with the founding cause.  At Disney, they call it, "The Magic."

The Magic is the short-hand that Disney refers to as a way of summing up all their values, what they believe and Why the company was founded in the first place.  By itself, it means nothing. The short-hand is given meaning over time, because everything that Disney says and does is so consistent, so clear, that we can see it, we can feel it, but we don't have words for it.  Every employee is responsible for managing The Magic and every customer will experience it.  But it's still not a thing; it's a feeling.

If your company or organization has a clear sense of purpose, one that people - employees or customers - can form an emotional attachment to, then you probably have a way to refer to that feeling - your own short-hand.

And if you don't, the question becomes, then why should anyone want to do business with you?  What Dream will they have, what Magic will they experience?  Or do you just aim to sell them some products and services.  Actually, there is a short-hand for that too...it's called a commodity.

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It Takes Two

Walt Disney was the visionary, the man who took the risk, but his brother, Roy Disney brought the dream to life.  Martin Luther King was the man with the dream, but it was Ralph Abernathy, a man whose name has been long forgotten, who stood up after Dr. King and told people what to do.  Bill Gates was the WHY guy who imagined a PC on every desk, Bill Gates imagined a world in which we would all be able to achieve our true potential.  But it was Paul Allen, lurking in the shadows, who knew HOW to make it happen.

No matter how clear the vision, no matter how high the risk tolerance, a leader is nothing with out the first person to stand-up to join.  For a movement to grow, for an idea to spread and for a company to become something special...it takes two. The dancer is WHY. The first follower is HOW.  When those two unite - watch WHAT happens.

Derek Sivers from MuckWork sums it up best:

You Have To Try To Find Out

When I was 4 or 5 years old, in an effort to get me to stop pulling silly faces, my mother told me that if I was pulling a face when the clock struck the hour, whatever face I was pulling would stick.  This was certainly enough to get me to exercise caution when pulling faces. But I wasn't convinced.  Scared, yes.  But not convinced. So I did an experiment to find out.

I distinctly remember standing in front of a mirror with a clock waiting for the hour to strike.  I tried a variety of faces and settled on one that wasn't too bad, one that I could live with if indeed my face would stick and I would be forced to look like that for the rest of my life.  I pulled the face and waited.

It didn't stick.  Phew.  Relief.

Trying something in a small way before you commit is a good practice. Detergent manufacturers recommend trying a stain removing product on an inconspicuous part of the garment before rubbing it all over the stain - just to be sure it doesn't do damage before you commit. 

If you want to try something new with your business, try in a small way first. Test it out. Just to be sure. Sometimes we're blinded by our passion or sometimes we just fall in love with our own ideas and start committing massive time and energy to something that, ultimately, isn't really a great idea.  The goal is not to suppress the thinking...just to try it out in a small way first to be sure it sticks.

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How Leaders Speak

There is an inextricable link between leadership and communication. Leaders are the ones who can clearly communicate their vision. And the ones who can clearly communicate their vision are the ones who can lead.

You do not have to be the smartest guy in the room to be the leader. In fact, it is widely accepted by many historians that two of the smartest men to hold the presidency in recent history, the guys with the highest IQ, were Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon. Yet, Ronald Reagan, regardless if you agreed with his politics or not, went down in history for having been one of the most popular presidents of all time. He inspired a nation, presided over the booming ‘80s and was responsible for winning the Cold War. He was not known as one of our smartest presidents -- he was known, instead, as “The Great Communicator.”

Great leaders don’t spend all their time talking about what they can do. Great leaders talk about what they can see. That’s why we call what they talk about “vision.” They imagine a world that others can’t see and they share their vision with words. They don’t use statistics to make their point; they use vivid imagery.

It takes two things to be a great communicator:

First, you need to be an optimist. You need to look beyond the current situation and be able to imagine a time, no matter how far away -- a week, a month or a decade -- that is better than now.

Second, you must be able to put what you can imagine into simple words that everyone can understand; it doesn’t help to use a big vocabulary. It does help to use language that can be clearly understood by a truck driver and a scientist -- simple, understandable and repeatable language.

Using words like “I can see” or “I imagine” or “I believe” to start your thoughts helps paint a picture of that image. For example, what if I told you that statistics show that when people enjoy going to work their overall productivity and general happiness improves? If we develop a series of systems and processes to steadily increase people’s enjoyment of work, then work would get better. It’s an accurate statement, but would you be inspired to work with me in that pursuit? Probably not. But what if I said this:

I imagine a time not too far from now in which every single person who goes to work loves what they do. This is the world I can see. Can you imagine going to work every single day and loving what you do and the people you work with? How do you think that would impact your work or even your personal life? This is the world I imagine and it is possible if we work together to create it. Join me. Choose to lead. Choose to inspire. If you do, I know we will be successful. If you lead those around you, if you inspire the people around you, every one of us will wake up and love going to work. Are you in or are you out?

Same message, but only one inspires.

How Leaders Speak comes from my Logistics of Leadership column on Askmen.com

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