Lunch for your Mind

I wrote a Career Ladder article “Why You Should Never Graduate” that was published in January about how learning is a lifelong pursuit.  Soon afterward I read an article on Brian Grazer in the Wall Street Journal Magazine that comes with the Saturday edition.  Mr. Grazer is a man arguably full of obsessions and compulsions, but what captured my attention was his lunch-time ritual.  Every day, he would invite an expert in some field to walk with him for half an hour and talk.  His guest would basically “download” their knowledge into Mr. Grazer.   

Here is a man at the top of his field.  He is a successful producer who has nothing to prove to anyone.  Yet, he spends his lunch walking around the block with scientists and artists.  He constantly feeds his interest in learning.  Granted, he does it in a way that is not attainable for the average person.  Jonas Salk is not going to schedule me in for a one-on-one chat as he did for Mr. Grazer. 

The point is less about getting the information in person from the best and brightest, but more about getting the learning at all.  I clipped an article from a 2010 Fortune magazine about Bill Gates’ favorite teacher.  Salman “Sal” Kahn produces You Tube tutorials on a huge variety of topics (over 1700) including algebra and biology.  They are free and they take only a short lunch break to watch. 

I bring up learning at lunch because it is hard to do your job while eating.  However, even if you are downing a sandwich at your desk, you can watch a 10 to 15 minute tutorial on your computer.  Or read a magazine.  Not one that is for your job, but one that contains information about other things in the world.  Some of my favorites include Discover, National Geographic, Mental Floss and The Economist.  One article will take only a few minutes to read. 

So give yourself something to chew on at lunch besides your sandwich.  

Energy Consumers: Beware the Office Vampire

I am a big believer that having a firm command of your own physical, intellectual and emotional energy is imperative for everyone’s success.  As a leader, you need to make certain your team has positive emotional energy.  With that in mind, I thought I would share something interesting from April 9th’s Chicago Tribune.  I read Rex Huppke’s always amusing column “I Just Work Here”.  The column’s focus is the book Emotional Vampires by Al Bernstein, a Portland, Oregon-based clinical psychologist.  The book came out in 2000, but it is timeless – just like vampires. 

The premise of the book is there are people in the workplace whose actions and emotions suck the life out of fellow workers.  Instead of creating emotional energy, they are voracious consumers of it.  Bernstein sorts them into the following “vampire” types:

•  Anti-social vampires:  the rules are for suckers (no pun intended), not them.
•  Histrionic vampires:  no amount of unnecessary drama is too much.
•  Narcissistic vampires:  it is all about them, even when it is not.
•  Obsessive-compulsive vampires:  perfectionist who cannot see the forest for the trees.
•  Paranoid vampires:  positive they are right and everyone else is wrong.

These archetypes are exaggerations to make a point.  However, the negative effect they can have is not exaggerated at all.  Al Bernstein provides an “antidote” for each, but these are to be used by co-workers.  As the leader, your role is different. 

You need to maintain your leadership brand.  It must be consistent.  Your role is to keep returning everyone’s focus to the goal in a way that energizes you and the team.  To this end, be sure to praise in public and critique in private—it keeps the team cohesive.

I will be covering Team Dynamics more in the coming blogs.  Watch this space.

Humble Warrior

Do you ever get the feeling that your sense of what is right is warring with your ego? Like when you make an embarrassing mistake.  You know you should admit it, but ignoring it is easier. Or when your peer has a major success but gloats about it.  You just don’t want to give her the additional satisfaction of your acknowledgment.  Maybe it is something as small as not wanting to give anyone else a platform to talk during a meeting because you are too busy describing your great idea.

We know the right thing to do, but it is hard.  Often, we think of leadership in very black and white terms:  the best leaders are always strong, always right, always in the lead.   Consequently, giving power to someone else, admitting errors and letting others shine can feel like weakness.

Mastering your sense of self is crucial to successful leadership.  You have to be comfortable enough with yourself to know that admitting error, giving praise and sharing do not diminish your standing.  On the contrary, these qualities enhance your standing.  Only someone well-rounded and comfortable in their own skin can do these things. 

It reminds me of a yoga pose my wife described.  I looked it up (see photo).  The pose is called Humble Warrior.  The strong warrior is placed in a submissive position of leaning forward and bowing almost to the ground.  But on closer inspection, you can see that entire body is strong.  The pose uses the entire body:  strong, lunged legs; hands clasped behind; arms straight, thrust overhead; body cantilevered over; shoulder next to--but not touching--the knee; head hovering over the ground.  There is power in the humble pose. 

We need to tap into our internal strength to do that which may seem weak, but which actually makes us strong. 

What is your Humble Warrior moment?