Monthly Archives: August 2015

Finding Your Sweet Spot as a Leader

Maybe you’ve seen a basketball player get caught out of position: the skinny point guard who is less than six feet tall ends up below the basket guarding a seven-foot-tall center. It’s an awkward scene. The point guard is out of his comfort zone and rendered ineffective. Did you know that it’s possible for you, as a leader, to get caught out of position, too? You can find yourself stuck in a place with no room to succeed because you are not playing to your strengths.

To maximize your effectiveness you must find your “sweet spot.” Your sweet spot is where your motivations and strengths intersect. When
you find your sweet spot and begin operating out of it, you will experience increased joy and fulfillment, because you will be in your most natural position.

Finding your sweet spot requires self-awareness

To find your sweet spot, you first have to know what motivates you to be successful, what drives you to take on the responsibility of leadership. When you focus on the reasons behind your actions, you’ll begin to understand your motivations. It takes a lot of motivation to lead an organization, and understanding yours allows you to lean on them when you need a push.

There are two main types of motivations.

Extrinsic motivations are outside forces or drivers acting on you as a leader. Extrinsic motivations include:

Money, power
Job titles
Recognition
Social status
Winning over others

Opposite these motivations are the driving forces inside you — your intrinsic motivations. These motivations include:

Personal growth
Satisfaction from doing a good job
Helping others progress
Finding meaning in effort
Impacting the world

Early on in your career extrinsic motivations may be a driving factor. But as you get older, you’ll glean more from intrinsic motivations. Neither type of motivation is inherently better or worse than the other; each can be valuable, but you’ll find that some intrinsic motivations have more staying power. If you are doing something for the good of those around you, it can be more motivating than chasing a raise or a title.

Once you identify your motivations, you need to know your strengths. What are you good at? What type of work should you be doing? What separates you from other employees at your company?

When you know what you want to do and why you want to do it, you are drawing on motivated capabilities. This is a powerful, efficient way to work. When you find your motivated capabilities you are operating in your sweet spot.

Work on your strengths and progress more efficiently

People who use their strengths on a daily basis are happier, more confident people. This is important. When you feel comfortable you are more likely to enjoy coming to work each day, more likely to be an engaged, enjoyable boss, and are generally more satisfied with your work. This satisfaction is an intrinsic motivation that can sustain you when times get tough or life gets busy.

Working toward your strengths is also the most efficient way to grow. The Harvard Business Review notes that, “Although we label weaknesses ‘areas of opportunity,’ brain science reveals that we do not learn and grow the most in our areas of weakness. In fact the opposite is true: we grow the most new synapses in those areas of our brain where we have pre-existing synapses.” This means that you and your employees have the best opportunity to develop by focusing on areas where you are already capable, where you have experience, or where you excel.

One example of a person who found success working toward his strength is Charles Schwab, who is profiled in Discover Your True North. Schwab entered law school in his early thirties to uphold a family tradition. However, he struggled with the reading and writing that law school required. Schwab had always had trouble in school — he was diagnosed with dyslexia in his 40s — and these issues were magnified in law school.

To change course, Schwab took a part-time job at an investment firm. He had always loved math and was interested in the research investment required. It was in the investment world that he found a way to work to his strengths.

But a lot of people are good at math. What made Schwab different? Why did he build a successful investment company?

The answer may be that Schwab was also motivated. Schwab was raised in post-Depression America. He had seen how the Great Depression affected his family and he wanted to be financially successful. This desire to be comfortable, to care for the people around him, and, later, to help other people succeed in the investment world was the motivation Schwab needed to succeed.

Finding your sweet spot is the key to sustaining success

To impact the world, you have to get in the right position. This means finding where your skills and motivations intersect. Your sweet spot will keep you engaged and happy while helping you inspire others around a common mission. Only as a “We” leader (someone focused on the good of the group and the benefits of a greater cause) can you reach your full potential. You will learn more about your full potential as you continue to pursue True North.

Learn more about this topic in Chapter 6: Sweet Spot

Investor’s Business Daily: Top CEOs Develop An Internal Compass For True North

Top chiefs lead with purpose and personality. How their inner traits determine outward direction:

• Blaze a trail. Genuine leaders develop their best selves without copying someone else.

“If you create a false persona or wear a mask, people will quickly see through you,” said “Discover Your True North” author Bill George. The book follows up his 2007 title, “True North,” for which George interviewed 125 CEOs.

The new release returns to those leaders and adds 48 voices.

The common thread among top chiefs?

“Without exception, these leaders believed being authentic made them more effective and successful,” he told IBD.

• Learn to give. George was determined to rise, and would eventually become CEO of medical device firm Medtronic (NYSE:MDT).

Back in college, he was overlooked for the leadership roles he pursued. One day, seniors pulled George aside and chided him for being more interested in getting ahead than in helping others. After turning his focus outward, he gained leadership credibility and was elected fraternity president.

• Look inward. “The hardest person you will ever have to lead is yourself,” George said.

He dug into the early lives of CEOs to understand how they resolved their personal demons.

“Once you are fully comfortable with who you are — and feel good in your own skin — leading others authentically becomes much easier,” he said.

• Identify strengths. Playing football and baseball as a youth taught Dick Kovacevich to value individual talent — long before his stint as CEO of Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC).

“If you had 11 quarterbacks on the field, you would lose every game. Just as quarterbacks are overrated, CEOs are too,” he said.

• Develop mettle. Several CEOs faced tough times on their way up.

“Many cited these experiences, along with the people who helped them develop, as primary reasons for their success,” George said.

Before becoming CEO of General Electric (NYSE:GE), Jeffrey Immelt faltered in the firm’s plastics division and missed a profit target by $30 million.

Of the tough year, Immelt said:

“In times like that you’ve got to be able to draw from within. Leadership is one of those great journeys into your own soul.”

• Seek growth. Everyone faces difficult patches.

“Embrace them,” said Ann Fudge, former CEO of marketing firm Young & Rubicam. “Go through them even if they hurt. Tell yourself: There is something to be learned from this experience. You may not fully understand it now, but you will later.”

• Show yourself. Your identity should be consistent wherever you are, so develop and wear one face.

“Costumes are for Halloween,” said Brian Mohr, co-founder and managing partner of leadership search firm Y Scouts. “In my line of work, I want to offer a leader who is authentic and not some impostor version of who they really are.”

This article was originally posted 8/14/15 on Investor’s Business Daily

You Have to Peel Back Your Layers to Understand Who You Are

To understand yourself as a leader, you have to peel back your layers to find your authentic self.

See More Infographics

Leadership Freak: A Little Embarrassed

Sometimes I put my foot in my mouth. Upon reflection, I’m a little embarrassed by a question I asked Bill George, author of the new and updated version of, Discover Your True North.

Bill is the former CEO of Medtronic and professor of management practice at Harvard Business School. During his 10 years at Medtronics the company grew from $1 billion to $60 billion in market capitalization.

The category of Drucker and Bennis:

In the forward to, “Discover Your True North,” David Gergen* asks who would carry on the work of Peter Drucker. “Soon it became apparent that the most obvious candidate was Warren Bennis…”

Warren Bennis passed on July 17, 2014. Gergen asks, “Well, who will now carry on Warren’s work?” Gergen answers his own question by writing, “With the publication of his sixth and most important book, Discover Your True North, we may well have our candidate: Bill George.

The question:

In essence, I asked Bill George about allowing David Gergen to put him in a category with Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis.

My goal, when I interview leaders, is gaining insights, not poking them. Bill’s response was simple and profound.

Bill George in his own words (2:55):

Audio Player

Tested by praise:

Praise is tougher to manage than adversity.

Adversity tends to humble us; praise, taken poorly, inflates us. There was no hesitation in Bill when he responded to my question. He candidly said that he was taken back and spent time thinking about Gergen’s comments.

In the end, there is only one leader-like response to praise and recognition, “Thank you.”

False humility is arrogance, but gratitude in the face of praise reflects humility.

I’m thankful for the opportunity to talk with Bill George. He left a lasting impression on me. I highly recommend, Discover Your True North.

What leaders have made a big impression on you? How?

Visit Bill’s website.

*David Gergen is an American political commentator and former presidential advisor who served during the administrations of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. He is currently a Senior Political Analyst for CNN and a Professor of Public Service and Co-Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. Gergen is also the former Editor-at-Large of U.S. News and World Report. (Source).

This article was originally posted 8/17/15 on Leadership Freak.

Ken Frazier: Do What You’re Supposed to Do

At Merck, he found a purpose to be proud of.

Throughout Discover Your True North, successful individuals discuss how they became authentic leaders. This forum is a chance to delve deeper into the thoughts and journeys of these influential leaders. In this profile, we will talk about the importance of knowing your purpose with M erck CEO Ken Frazier.

Thank you for joining us, Ken. You have an inspiring family history; your grandfather was born into slavery, and now, two generations later, you’re the CEO of one of the world’s most influential companies. How do you explain your family’s incredible change in the midst of difficult circumstances?

Well, it’s important to realize that in many ways, my family hasn’t changed. The values that led me to work hard, to get into college on scholarship, to continue to strive to do my best in every endeavor — those were my father’s values, and my grandfather’s before him. Yes, my circumstances today are drastically different than my grandfather’s. But I only got here because I strive every day to be like my family, not different from them.

Can you talk a little more about those values?

Absolutely. My father taught me to do what is right. Above all, no matter what the people around you are doing, do what is right. Do what you are supposed to do. My father was very aware of the legacy of his father and our family history, and he instilled in me the responsibility to live up to the example my grandfather set by being courageous and hardworking. Those lessons got me through an adolescence surrounded by peers who were joining gangs, going nowhere, making bad decisions. They got me through law school at Harvard, knowing how different I was from most of my classmates, how little I had in common with them. I had to rise above all that, because more than anything else, I wanted to become a man my father would be proud of.

Speaking of law school, you took a real turn in your career when you joined Merck. Why the about-face from law into executive leadership?

Well, I started off at Merck in my original field, as general counsel — but I guess that just wasn’t what I was supposed to be doing! Pretty quickly, former CEO Roy Vagelos, my mentor and friend, suggested that I become senior vice president of public affairs. I was hesitant at first, but ultimately I came to the realization that my values — to make the world a better place, to leave a lasting legacy of good work — were best served by helping Merck succeed in its mission to do the same thing.

Do you think your values are responsible for Merck’s success?

I wouldn’t say it that way. Many people are responsible for Merck’s success, most notably Roy. I would say that my values and Merck’s align, and that I was initially drawn to the company for that reason. Merck is in the business of saving lives and improving the world. It’s a noble cause, one I’m proud to support with my efforts and my talents, and I hope that as CEO I do our mission justice. When I came to Merck, I really found a place that matched my own purpose.

Ken, you sound like you know your values and your purpose, and are really aligned with your True North. How are you bringing your True North to your leadership at Merck?

For me, doing what’s right is really about meeting the world’s needs, and when I became CEO in 2011, I thought the best way to do that was to focus on research in areas that sorely needed solutions. Alzheimer’s, cancer — these diseases ravage people, and the more I can do to alleviate that suffering, the more I can pour my energy into finding cures, the more I know I’m tangibly improving the world around me with the time I have here. Merck started funding our R&D department more fully just when other companies were cutting funding to theirs. I strongly believe that the way forward, for a person or a company, is to know what’s right and simply do it. What’s right for Merck is to do the research, to try to discover new cures, to turn over stone after stone until we find a way to make the world a better place.

You’ve said that you worked hard to become a man your father would be proud of. Do you think you’ve succeeded?

Yes, I do. I think he’d say, “Ken, you did what you were supposed to do.” And that means everything to me — the knowledge that if my father and grandfather were standing here today, they’d be proud of what I’ve done.

But that doesn’t mean I can rest on those laurels. Every moment of your life, you have to strive, to grow, to keep working toward your best self and your True North. It’s so important to remember that every day is a new chance to be a better person, and to make a better world.

Thanks so much for your time, Ken. Your story, and your family’s, are truly uplifting. We hope other people on their own leadership journeys will learn from your example.

Thank you for having me. Purpose really is so important to understand. If you don’t, how do you know which way to go? Which decision is best? How can you be proud of your actions? I have stuck to my values my whole life, and I found my purpose that way. I hope that as your readers begin to take their own journeys, they can do the same.

Huffington Post: For Leadership, Do You Need a Ladder or Compass?

On your leadership journey, should you take a ladder or a compass?

The answer depends on whether you are trying to build a career or have a fulfilling life. As David Brooks writes in The Road to Character, “Are you pursuing resume values or eulogy values?”

When I graduated from college, I had the naive notion that my leadership journey was a straight line to the top. Keep climbing the rungs of the ladder and eventually I would reach my destination.

Was I ever wrong.

I learned the hard way that leadership isn’t about climbing rungs on the ladder of success, while building the perfect resume. Former Vanguard CEO Jack Brennan believes the worst thing people can do is to manage their careers with a career map. He told me, “The dissatisfied people I have known and those who experienced ethical or legal failures all had a clear career plan.”

The idea of a career ladder places tremendous pressure on leaders to keep climbing ever higher. Instead, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, favors the idea of a career “jungle gym” where you can move up, down or across. Adds eBay CEO John Donahoe, “Leadership is a journey, not a destination. It is a marathon, not a sprint.” On your winding journey, you need a compass to stay focused on your True North, not a ladder whose rungs you climb.

Becoming an authentic leader requires building your character. As Warren Bennis wrote, “Leadership is character, not style. It is who we are as human beings. The process of becoming a leader is much the same as becoming an integrated human being.”

In my early years, I was hardly recognized as a leader by my peers. I was eager – too eager – to get ahead. In high school and college, I lost seven consecutive elections. There was a simple reason for this. I was so ambitious and centered on myself that I never took the time to develop close relationships.

Then a group of seniors at Georgia Tech gave me some sound advice. “Bill, you seem more interested in getting ahead than in helping other people. No wonder no one wants to follow your lead.” Devastated by this feedback, I took their advice to heart and came to grips with my shortcomings, focusing on others instead of myself. As a result, I was selected to lead many organizations.

Years later, I got caught again in my own trap. In the late 1980s, I was on my way to the top of Honeywell. As executive vice president responsible for nine divisions and 18,000 people, I was one of two leading candidates to become CEO. Driving home one day, I looked in the rear view mirror and saw a miserable person – me. On the surface, I appeared to be energized and confident, but inside I was deeply unhappy. In that instant I realized I was more focused on climbing the corporate ladder than being a values-centered leader who makes a difference in the world. I faced the reality that Honeywell was changing me more than I was changing it–and didn’t like the changes I saw.

As Dante starts The Divine Comedy, “In the middle of the road of my life, I awoke in a dark wood, where the true way was wholly lost.”

When I awoke to my reality, I reopened the opportunity to join Medtronic that I had turned down three times before. This decision led to the best thirteen years of my professional life. Had I not had that awakening at Honeywell, I might never have seen Medtronic’s possibilities.

In researching my new book, Discover Your True North, we interviewed 170 authentic leaders, from Oprah Winfrey to Howard Schultz. All of them followed difficult paths to success and authenticity, yet stayed grounded by building on their life stories. By understanding their formative experiences, they reframed their stories and shaped their leadership around following their True North.

From these interviews we learned that the journey to leadership has three distinct phases, as shown below:

Phase I is “Preparing for Leadership,” where leaders develop through education, extracurricular experiences, and early professional work. This is the period where character forms and people lead for the first time. In Phase I most people are naturally self-absorbed, as measures of success are based primarily on individual accomplishments. The basis of authenticity, however, lies in the values they develop in these early years.

Phase II, “Leading,” begins as individuals take responsibility for leading others and transition from “I to We,” culminating in their peak leadership experience. As they take on greater responsibilities, most leaders have setbacks that test them to their core: their sense of self, their values, and their career assumptions. Through these crucible experiences, leaders learn who they are at their essence and prepare themselves for greater challenges ahead.

Phase III is “Generativity,” wherein leaders focus on giving back by sharing their knowledge and wisdom with many people and organizations. These days, many leaders are foregoing conventional retirement to share their leadership experiences with others, serving on boards, mentoring young leaders, or teaching and writing. Psychologist Erik Erikson describes the choice in this phase: generativity versus stagnation. For leaders who focus on helping others, this stage is filled with meaning. Those who don’t often face the stagnation common with old age.

Regardless of where you are in your journey–just getting started, looking for new challenges, or nearing the top–each leadership experience provides myriad opportunities for personal growth and to discover your True North. If you embrace your life story and learn from its lessons, your leadership journey leads to great satisfaction and fulfillment.

As former Amgen CEO Kevin Sharer said, “You are the mosaic of all your experiences.”

This article was originally posted 8/17/15 on the Huffington Post as part of a series on True North Leadership.