Re:Focus

How To Listen

There is a difference between listening and waiting for your turn to speak. Just because someone can hear, doesn’t mean they are listening or that they know how to listen. My grandfather would sit on the couch and watch a cricket match on TV, catch every word from the commentator’s mouth, but wouldn’t “hear” my grandmother when she called from the other room. Oh, he could hear her alright… he just wasn’t listening.

Listening is active. At its most basic level, it’s about focus, paying attention. When a teenager seems to be staring out the window when being spoken to, a parent or teacher will ask: “Are you listening to me?” What the parent or teacher really means is: “Are you paying attention?”

At its most effective level, however, listening goes far beyond simply paying attention. Becoming a “good listener” is a skill that requires practice. At this level, listening means trying to find meaning in what you hear. It is not simply about concentrating on what is being said to you; it is the active pursuit of understanding.

Good listeners have a huge advantage. For one, when they engage in conversation, they make people “feel” heard. The people with whom they are speaking“feel” that someone really understands their wants, needs and desires. And for good reason; a good listener really does care to understand.

A good listener must be good at asking questions. It is near impossible to perfectly understand what someone truly wants or needs on the first go, not because they are not being clear (though that may sometimes be the case), but because very often people don’t express their real needs.

For example, an employee demands more money for their job because they feel they are underpaid for the work they are doing. Someone who knows how to listen won’t simply hear them, they will want to understand the root of their feelings.  They will want to ask questions. A good listener will want to understand the reason they feel unappreciated.

With the right questions, it will be revealed that it is the job itself, not the money that is the cause of the disgruntlement. They feel that they are struggling because they don’t have the skill set to handle the responsibility they are given, for example. It is training that they need. Simply paying them more will address the symptom, but only when additional tools or training are provided will the employee feel looked after in the future. And only then will their true value to the organization be fully realized.

Here are some tips to practice to become a good listener:

1. Work to understand: Consciously work to understand the reason someone is telling what they are telling you. Don’t assume what they say and what they mean are the same. And don’t assume that the solutions they offer will fix the issue.
2. Ask specific questions: Don’t simply ask, “What do you mean by that?” after every statement someone makes. That’s frustrating for the person talking to you and it still relies on them to find the right words. Ask questions specific to the things they say. For example, if someone says, “I want to be a doctor,” instead of asking why they want to be a doctor, ask them what kind of doctor they want to be. When they answer, ask them what it is about that specialty that interests them. Very quickly you will get a much clearer picture of the kind of person this is and what their strengths are just from listening closely and asking pointed questions.
3. Restate what has been stated: Practice saying, “Let me see if I understand” to someone, then restate what you think they mean in your own words. They will either agree or disagree with you. More importantly, they will feel heard and you will work together to find clarity and common understanding.

The great people managers, those that seem to have a pulse on their people, may have an innate sense of what’s going on in the world or a Magic 8-Ball that tells them the answers. But it’s more likely that they know how to listen. The same goes for innovation or customer service. The companies that know how to listen are the ones that develop products and serve people based on their ACTUAL wants, needs and desires and just what they say in market research.

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The Journey

I flew from Vancouver to Los Angeles on Alaska Airlines today. The plane was old. The seats were shabby and the crew did the minimum that was required to be considered "service." All in all it was a great flight.

I'm not being sarcastic.  It was a great flight. And the reason was because of the captain.

Once we were up in the air, he came on and started telling us what we could see out the windows.  "On the left side of the plane," he said, "you'll get a great view of Mt. Rainier."  Then he went on to tell us a bit about Mt. Rainier.  About 30 minutes later the captain came on again.  This time telling us about the Oregon River.  Later he told us about some lake that formed from a crater.  Each time he pointed things out, he would tell us a little something about it.  It was wonderful.

The plane was still old.  The seats were still shabby. The food was still bland, but the experience was really enjoyable. He transformed the experience of taking the bus, which is what air travel has become today, into a tour across the country.

I know it’s not an Alaska Airlines “thing,” it was just one chatty captain. But I hope airlines see the value of creating an experience and adopt this and other ways to enhance the time we spend on the plane.

It's not just airlines that can learn from this, it's anyone who serves someone they would call a customer or a client.  What matters more than all the stuff we throw at our customers is the journey we take them on to get that stuff. 

We expect a coffee shop to sell us coffee, for example. We take them from A to B, but it’s what happens on the way from A to B that matters more to creating loyalty.  We can get product B from any number of companies – but it's the journey that different companies take you on that makes the difference. You come into the coffee shop only wanting coffee, just like I took the flight just to get to where I needed to go.  But how the employee (and hopefully the company), decided to get me there made me want more.  The best part is, I completely ignored the shabby seats and old plane after that.

Take people on a memorable journey, and they won't notice the mistakes you make or the things you get wrong.  Ignore the journey and all they will notice is the mistakes you make and the things you get wrong.

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The Beauty of Life

We get preoccupied with the daily grind.  We think our problems are bad. We lose perspective. It's good, now and then, just to be reminded how beautiful life is and how small our problems really are.  And by beautiful, I don't mean puppies and rainbows - I mean the value of life.  When we see someone escape death, there is no other way to describe that experience than beautiful.

I can't watch this without crying.  It is...beautiful. 

The Final Score Doesn't Matter

The fans watching the game in a local sports bar in New York went wild. They cheered and celebrated.  They couldn't believe their team had done it. This was possibly one of the great upsets in sports.

An ocean away, fans watching in a pub in London were devastated. How could this have happened? Their team should have won.

And so it was. The final score recorded into history to mark this occasion. 1:1.  That's right, the final score was 1:1 - the US soccer team had tied the British team in the first round of 2010 World Cup. The Americans celebrated the win. The Brits mourned the loss.  But the last time I checked, 1:1 was a tie. There was no winner and there was no loser.  Or was there?

The final score, as it turns out, does not exist in a vacuum. A score may be an objective measurement of achievement, but its value is a relative measurement to our expectations.  An "A" student who gets a B, for example, feels disappointment.  A "C" student who gets a B feels ecstatic.  Their objective achievement is the same, but their feelings toward their grade, the value of their grade to them, is relative to the expectations others had for them.

This is what happened in the World Cup game. The British were the A students and the Americans were the C students.  And in this case - the Americans were able to match the might of the British.  It was, in relative terms, a win.

The definition of "winning," then, includes a subjective element - when what we actually achieve surpasses the expectations others think we could achieve. The American team believed they could match the British, even if everyone else thought they couldn't. Had the American team bought into the expectations others had for them, then their loss would have been inevitable because they would have played believing they had to lose.

Expectations are different from hopes or desires. Expectations are a calculation. They come from the evaluation of data - the British team was much better.  They had won more games. Their players were objectively better and so on.  Even if American fans hoped their team would win, based on the data, they didn't THINK they could win. 

This is what makes the underdog so appealing. What the underdog BELIEVES they can do goes beyond what others THINK they can do. Though we root for the underdog, we still expect them to lose. It's rational.  This is why belief in oneself, confidence, is so important.  The innovator believes something can be done when others think it can't.  The entrepreneur believes a solution exists for a problem others think unsolvable (if they even recognize the problem in the first place). And this is why optimists are the most important people of all. They believe every one of us can achieve more than we even we think we can.  They push us and they inspire us. They are able to convert our rational assessment of our abilities (thinking) into drive and passion (belief).

The American coach inspired his team to believe they could do something others thought they couldn't . All great leaders do.  They fundamentally believe in people and what they can do.

As for the lesson - if you're doing things that everyone around you thinks you can achieve and all the evidence would support their thoughts, then you're not pushing yourself hard enough. That doesn't mean working towards some ridiculous goal that even you don't believe is possible.  Rational achievement happens based on the score. The feeling of achievement, however, comes when you work to the limit of your own beliefs and if that limit goes beyond what others think you can do you will feel like you won...even if you only achieve partial success. Even if you only tie the game, those who didn't think you could do it will start to believe in you, too.  And when people believe in you, they will rally for you, support you, send resources your way, introduce you to people and help pave the way for you to succeed. And that's when objective success is easier to achieve. Though the facts may remain the same, they will support you for no other reason than they now believe in you and think you can do it, too.

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Lead From The Front and The Back

On a recent visit to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, I had the great honor of meeting some of the wounded warriors coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq.  They are brought through Germany for treatment and are then taken back to the US for further help.

On this day, there were about 20 wounded warriors, in varying degrees of severity, heading back home.  Eighteen of them were in the Army and two of them were Marines. 

It was freezing outside as I, and a few other staff, stood waiting by the buses that would transport them to the C-17 cargo planes that would fly them back home. I happened to be standing next to a Marine officer, with whom I made small talk.  The door opened and a line of young men and women came out of the building, some on them on their own two feet, some carried on stretchers.  The Marine and I kept talking as they filed past.  That was until one young wounded Marine approached.  As he walked past us, the Marine officer stepped forwards, put his hand on the young Marine’s shoulder and thanked him.  He also told the young Marine that he was here with him for the whole trip and repeated the sentiment for the other young Marine who followed behind.  He then stepped back in line and continued to talk to me.

An essential component of inspiring people to be a part of an organization greater than themselves is that you look after your own. Strangely, there was no one there from the Army.  But the Marines had taken two officers out of theater for the sole purpose to escort these two wounded comrades from the front lines back to the United States. That was their entire responsibility.

The strength of an organization is easily measured by the steps it takes to look after its own.  To what lengths does a company go to show its people that they matter?  An organization that shows commitment to its people can expect its people to show commitment to them.

Yes leadership is about leading, standing out front.  Yes leadership is about painting a picture, a vision of the future that does not yet exist.  Yes leadership is about being a beacon for people to follow.  But great leadership is about turning back to those that you would want to follow you on your quest to thank them, personally, for being a part of what you are, together, trying to build. The US Marine Corps does not have an amazing culture simply because of what they do out front, it’s also what they do at the back that matters. Semper fidelis, as their motto goes. Always faithful.

I urge anyone who aspires to lead to see the movie Taking Chance and you’ll see what I mean.

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The Honesty Test

“Have you finished that report I need?” my boss asked me.

“I’m nearly done with it. I’ll give it to you by end of day tomorrow,” I replied.

The report wasn’t late and he would indeed get it by the end of the following day. The problem was that I wasn’t being honest. I said I was nearly done, when in fact I’d barely started.

It was just a harmless little white lie that came out almost like a reflex, like an involuntary response. I didn’t say it to mislead my boss; I said it so I wouldn’t look like a fool in front of him. It was self-preservation. There’s no harm in that… is there?

Being honest is tougher to do than most people think. With no intention of misleading people, we tell little white lies nearly every day. Sometimes we tell a little fib to protect ourselves, like the example above, and sometimes we do it to be polite or to avoid offending someone. For example, your friend comes up to you at his wedding and asks: “Isn’t this the best wedding ever?” In reality, the food was bland, the band sucked and there was construction going on next door. But we still say: “Yes! It’s excellent.” Which, by any standard, is a complete lie.

The people in the world who make a real impact are always completely honest -- always. People may disagree with them, they may not be liked, but they are always respected for telling the truth. Simon Cowell, for example, is the only honest voice on American Idol. What he lacks is social grace. Love him or hate him, we respect him for his honesty.

Take this test: For the next 48 hours try being honest 100% of the time. If you find yourself in a position in which you may offend someone with the truth, then answer a different question. For example, if you find yourself at a bad wedding and you’re asked if you’re enjoying it, respond with one thing you did enjoy. “It was so special to see you finally get married,” for example.

I took the test and the impact of being honest surprised me. I had a meeting with a senior staffer for a highly regarded member of congress and she asked me a pointed question: “Did you do any research on the congressman before this meeting?” Had I not taken the pledge to tell no lies, I would have replied “a little,” to not look like a complete buffoon. Instead, I replied honestly: “I didn’t.” No excuses, just the honest answer. At which point she said: “OK, so let me give you some background then.”

Her question wasn’t meant to test me. She asked so she could establish a baseline for how much I knew. Because I was being honest with her, she told me everything I needed to know, which she wouldn’t have done had I told a little harmless lie. Being honest helped me.

Take the honesty test for the next 48 hours and tell me what happened in the comments...and don't lie.

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The Best Leaders Teach Others To Lead

"There's nothing you can screw up that I can't help fix," she was often heard telling her students at Air Force Fighter Weapons School (the Air Force equivalent of Top Gun). And it is this philosophy that makes Lori Robinson a great leader.   She understands she's only as good as those she leads.

When a leader spends more time reprimanding people for making mistakes, they will quickly create a culture in which people will fear making mistakes.  Innovation and productivity suffer because the team will play not to lose instead of playing to win.

Worse, few if any will want to take personal accountability for their actions. They will point fingers or come up with excuses. And if people don't own their own decisions and actions then they will never feel a part of something bigger than themselves. They will rarely go out of their way to help their colleagues, the group or the company.

That's not the case for those who General Robinson commands. She is renowned for working to clear a path for others so that they may succeed.  She has earned remarkable loyalty from those who have ever served her. In fact, those who have served under her have gone on to have remarkable careers of their own.  And it is this that makes Lori Robinson a brilliant leader.  She does all she can to serve those who serve her.

Click to download the excerpt about Lori Robinson in Start With Why

How Many Days Do You Have Left To Live?

Imagine running in a race that you that didn't know where the finish line was.  You'd be running without knowing how long you have to run.  It wouldn't be easy.  You wouldn't know how to pace yourself.  And at some points, you'd feel like you're going to be running forever.

This is how we live our lives. 

When we give our age, we count the number of years we've been alive. That's like saying, "I've been running for 5 miles," without knowing how much longer you have to run.  This makes it difficult to pace ourselves and makes it hard to feel that every step in the race is heading to anything meaningful.  Intellectually, we know we can't run forever, but that doesn't change the fact that we don't know where the finish line is. 

Some people who suffer from a terminal illness have a sense of urgency to do something fulfilling before it's too late. They set out to complete their bucket list because they know when the end is. Some even seem to have an incredible appreciation for everyday they have left.  It would be great if we all lived everyday as if it were our last, but we know it's probably not, so we don't.

Some people suffer a midlife crisis when they get to the point when they are closer to the day they will die than they day they were born. The realization that the finish line is closer than the start line causes some to try to reclaim their youth, to feel like they did when they set out on the race before they get too tired...before they "miss their chance."

All these issues have nothing to do with appreciation for life or motivation or anything like that.  It all stems from not knowing where the finish line is. Ironically, we do have a sense where the finish line is.  I know, for example, that statistically I will kick the proverbial bucket at around 75 years old.  I hope to be a productive member of society until 70. That gives me 34 years to do all I want to do and make a mark in the world. If I live longer, great, but I'd be living on borrowed time. I have 1,751 weeks to do all the things I want to do and make a mark in the world.  The goal is to make every one of those weeks worth something.

I heard a story of a man who set up two fishbowls and filled one with a marble for every week he has left to live.  At the end of each week, if he did something that he felt was worth something, he took one marble out of one fish bowl and put it in the other.  If he didn't do anything of value, he threw the marble away.  That's a pretty stark reminder. You actually have to throw the marble away - a week wasted. A week you'll never get back.  The standard of what constitutes doing something of value is your own. It's a feeling.  Maybe it's helping your kid with their homework. Maybe it's helping someone across the street.  Maybe it's quitting the job you hate to go do something you love. Or maybe it's just sharing an idea that will inspire others to love every week they have left.

By reminding myself that this is the 34th year left until I reach the finish line, I feel a sense of empowerment much stronger than when I tell people I've been puttering around for 36 years. 

Lets all order marbles and fish bowls and make every step, every week, count.  Lets do what we need to do to leave this world in a better state than we found it before we run out of steam.

Download a PDF of this blog post...before it's too late!

The Visionary's Dilemma

"Let me tell you about my vision. It's all about the convergence of technology. We're developing applications that combine any portable device with a desktop computer. Now the nightwatchman can become a world famous recording artist.  What we're doing is better than YouTube and better than anyone else out there. It's revolutionary!!!"

What you just read is how a visionary mind described his revolution to me...at least what I could understand of it.  And that's the problem...

Visionaries can see a world that doesn't exist. This is the reason we call them visionary - because they can see into the future.  They can imagine products or services not yet invented. They can envision a way of living different to the way we live now.  Yet they can't always get it out in a way that anyone can understand. It's no surprise most people think so many visionaries are crazy - just listen to what comes out of their mouths.  And they always include some coup de grace like how much better their idea is compared to an accepted standard,  refer to a huge multi-billion dollar corporation as "idiots" or say something to do with changing the world.  

And I'm sure they could change the world or take down the largest of corporations...if anyone could understand a thing they were saying.

This is the visionary's dilemma.

A vision, no matter how brilliant, will only ever see the light of day if others, those less visionary, are able to also see the potential.  It is a person's ability to paint a picture of something that doesn't exist in words so clear that others can clearly picture it themselves without any confusion or uncertainty that matters most.  It is at that point that an idea can inspire people to act. To share the idea and to help bring it to reality.

There is a simple formula to explain one's vision in words that can be clearly understood by more than the visionary themselves. No matter the what the vision is, no matter how simple or how complicated the technology, always communicate so that a scientist AND a truck driver could understand you equally (note: if you communicate as if you're a scientist, a truck driver won't understand you, but if you communicate as if you're a truck driver, everyone will understand you).

1. Words that require thinking should be avoided, words like "convergence," for example. When someone says that in a sentence, I have to furl my brow and really pay attention.

2. Explain why it matters, not what you're doing. Who cares if you're  "developing applications for mobile devices...blah blah blah," why should I care?

3. And most importantly, always, always speak as if you're describing an image.  A picture.  A scene.

If I were to rewrite the original vision based on these simple steps, it would sound more like this:

"I imagine a world in which a couple interested in building a house could take a picture with their phone of a house they like and immediately submit the image to have blueprints drawn up and have architects bid to build that house before they picked up the kids from school.

I imagine a world in which a nightwatchman could use nothing more than his cell phone to record a song he wrote, while at work, with perfect studio quality and post it for the world to hear before he goes home at the end of his shift. 

I imagine a world in which our cell phones and our desktop computers become so blurred, that everything you can do with your home computer...I mean everything...you could do with your phone. This is the world that I imagine and I am building. If you can see the impact of what I'm talking about, join me and lets build it together."

Big difference, right? No big words.  I spoke in images not explanations.  I described the final images and not the shades of paint that make up those images.  And, after all, it is why you have your vision, not how you intend to create it, that inspires.

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Spend More Time In The Shower

Most organizations schedule time for creativity. Call it a brainstorming seesion or an off-site or any other clever title you want to give it - the concept is the same - it's a time in the calendar to be creative, to think outside the box, come up with innovative solutions or generate ideas.  The problem is, you can't schedule creativity. 

When we "sit down to think," we engage our rational brains. This is the part of the brain we use to weigh the pros and cons or engage our "expertise." But consider how many problems or ideas we have in the shower, in the car heading to work, lying in bed or any other place that we're certainly not consciously trying to solve any problems.  That's because our subconscious brains - our limbic "feeling" brains - have access to vastly more information than our conscious "thinking" brains. Monumental amounts more, in fact.  Our rational brains can access the equivalent of about 2 feet of information around us.  Our subconscious brains can access the equivalent of 11 acres of information around us. Every experience, every lesson, every mistake, every success is all stored away and your brain has the capacity to access that information, even though you're not conscious of it.

This is what gut decisions are - this is why we say they "feel" right.  Because the feeling part of our brain is digging deep into our past to help guide our decisions. This is the reason experiences matter. The more experiences you have, the more data your limbic brain has to access, which will help generate ideas or solve problems.

When we take showers or go for a drive (or paint or run or wherever you allow your mind to wander), it continues trying to solve the issues we face in our lives at the time.  It accesses all our past experiences to help us see things our conscious brains can not.

This is the reason, when you visit an office filled with "creative" people, they have video games, pin ball machines, toys and all sorts of other distractions.  Things that stop them from thinking...things to help "inspire" them.

I used to be one of those people who likes to take a quick shower in the morning and get on with my day. But not anymore.  About 6 months ago, I realized that when I took longer showers, I would have about 2-3 really good ideas while in there.  So now I take long showers every morning and just listen to the water. I don't concentrate on anything, I don't try to think of anything specific, I don't spend more time washing.  I just stand under the water and let my mind wander.  I now get about 2-3 really good ideas every morning (then I have to repeat them to myself out loud over and over while drying then run and take notes before I forget them).

Find the place your mind wanders, the place you solve problems or have ideas and spend more time there.  If your morning commute is when you have all your ideas, for example, then, from time to time, just go for a drive without having a destination and just enjoy the drive.  Let your mind wander.

If your team has a big problem to solve or you need big ideas from them, don't lock them in a room to figure it out - let them go for a walk, wander around a museum together, listen to music. Play games, throw a ball around, read children's books.  Let a mind wander and you'll be amazed at what it discovers.

If you haven't already seen the video of Birds on a Wire, click here to see what you can create if you let your mind wonder.

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Acting Tough Doesn't Make You A Great Leader

Notoriously outspoken, his sentences always punctuated with profanities, General George S. Patton was the epitome of what a leader should be like -- or so he thought. Patton believed a leader should look and act tough, so he cultivated his image and his personality to match his philosophy. He always wore a polished helmet, a chest full of medals and his famous ivory-handled pistols on his sides. The problem is that leadership has nothing to do with looking or acting tough -- quite the opposite, in fact. 

Without question, George S. Patton was a great commander, the right man for the times and exactly what America needed in its fight against the Nazis. Though he was well respected, he didn’t command the same kind of loyalty and admiration as his boss, General Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower was the opposite of Patton: no bluster, no bravado. In fact, Eisenhower was famous for his self-deprecating sense of humor, something Patton hated. He never made fun of himself and he hated when others made fun of him; he thought it detracted from how he would be perceived as a leader. Ironic, considering he took great joy in publicly mocking others, even other generals.

George S. Patton’s toughness returned to haunt him in the now-infamous incident in the latter part of the war. He visited a hospital to thank wounded soldiers and came across one solider recovering from battle fatigue, the short-term version of PTSD. Seeing no physical wounds, Patton became enraged; thinking the soldier was a coward, he slapped him. The incident cost him dearly. He lost the chance to command any part of the D-Day invasion and was instead relegated to command a decoy operation.

Great leaders don’t need to act tough. Their confidence and humility serve to underscore their toughness. Mistreating, berating or humiliating people may serve to get them to act the way you want them to, but it does not build loyalty. Such bravado -- be it real or faked -- does not increase innovation, either. Innovation inherently requires risk and people will only take risks if they feel their leader is looking out for them.

If you’re in a position of leadership or aspire to lead, see if you can command loyalty without commanding. Ask questions instead of barking orders. Show you’re human by admitting mistakes or making fun of your own shortcomings instead of lambasting those who point them out for you. Most of all, surround yourself with people smarter and stronger than you instead of trying to be the smartest or strongest.

Tough leaders may be effective in the short term, but they rarely, if ever, become great leaders. Patton’s leadership style was memorialized in a Hollywood movie with George C. Scott. Eisenhower’s leadership style was memorialized by history. He went on to become president of the United States.

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Encourage People To Be Better At What They Are Already Good

A freshman athlete in the local high school is a natural at baseball. He has an amazing swing, lightning fast reflexes and he plays well as part of a team. But there’s a bit of an issue -- he’s not a very strong swimmer. He doesn’t enjoy the solitary nature of the sport; it’s just him and the water. His turns are slow and his stroke is sloppy. He’s decent enough, but he will have to train very, very hard if he’s going to be a real competitor.

Why is his swimming ability a problem, you ask? While in high school, he’s hoping to improve as an athlete so he can earn a scholarship for college. What should he do? More importantly, what should his coaches do?

It’s so obvious; it’s almost a ridiculous scenario. The young athlete should focus on strength building. His coaches know they can more easily make a star baseball player out of him, so they will encourage him to quit swimming and focus all his time and energy on baseball. 

It’s so obvious, yet for some reason, we do the opposite at work.

Formal or informal, when our companies give us our performance reviews, they point out our “areas for improvement” (the politically correct way of saying, the things you suck at), then they offer us a development plan to get better at those things. In other words -- if you keep swimming, you’ll get better at it.

We can’t all be good at everything. This is partly the logic behind having a team in the first place, so each role can be filled with the person best suited for that role and together, every job and every strength is covered.

Smart companies are the ones that identify someone’s natural talent and help them become even better at it. The result is a highly motivated employee who feels like the company is really looking after his or her career. In return, they will reward the company with superior performance (partly because they're already good at what they're doing) and because they wants to do right by the company that is doing right by them.

If you want to lead, focus on your own areas of leadership. If you’re a great motivator, then motivate. If you’re a great manager, then manage. If you’re a great organizer, then help others stay organized. If you’re a visionary, then talk about the things you can see. Identify your own strength, build on it and surround yourself with people who are brilliant at all the things you’re not. What you’re left with is a team worth leading.

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

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