Want Success? Discard Hardheadness for Tough Mindedness
Note From Rand
Some news on the publishing front: I’m pleased to announce that the first of my two books being published this year is now available and for the next 60 days you’ll find it exclusively on our web site. Entitled Stepping Stones to Success and published by Insight Publishing, it’s an anthology featuring Dr. Deepak Chopra, Jack Canfield, Dr. Denis Waitley, myself and a number of other notables from the personal development field (see the book cover just below).
In a couple of weeks, I’ll be offering a brief sale. For $19.95 (including shipping), you’ll be able to purchase a signed copy of this new book and receive my last Insight collaboration, Blueprint for Success, which also featured Ken Blanchard and Dr. Stephen Covey, for free. A really great deal!
My solo book, originally titled Redesigning Type A, has a new title. Sorry, but I can’t share it yet. Being published by Morgan James of New York, it goes to book design and layout in two weeks. I now expect an August/September publication date. As you can tell, I have a lot going on.
A couple of weeks ago I returned from my annual two-week sojourn to Palm Beach, Aruba. Sunny every day; cool every night. Lots of beach; lots of books. If you’re saying, “How boring,” you’d be right, but only if you regard predictable sunshine and relaxation as boring. For me, I need several weeks each year to “cool my jets.”
My first piece this month is brief. It introduces Matt Long. Matt’s story is inspirational and energizing. I’ll be featuring more stories like Matt’s in the upcoming months. My second piece is a chapter from my solo book entitled “Beliefs vs. Truth – Beware the Difference.”
Happy Spring. As always, get real, get tough and get going!
Meet Matthew Long
Matthew Long is a New York City Firefighter. An athlete his whole life, he’s always loved training and competing in road races and triathlons. On December 23, 2005, his life changed forever. While riding his bike to work, he was run over by a bus that was making an illegal right turn. To add insult to injury, the ambulance that carried him to the hospital was delayed because of a transit strike. He had a shattered pelvis, a broken arm, a dislocated shoulder and massive internal bleeding. According to the physician who performed the first of many surgeries on Matthew, he was ripped open from stem to stern. The doctor added: “The same hospital that treated Matthew treated a window washer who fell 47 stories a year before and lived. Matt was hurt much worse than
that.”
Everyone – the doctors, the physical therapists, his family – believed that he would never walk again.
Unconscious for 30 days, Matt spent a couple of years in physical therapy and had 42 surgeries. He was left with one leg an inch shorter than the other because of his hip injuries. His doctor went on to say that “he shouldn’t be running or walking or even going to the bathroom himself.” In reality, he had about a 5% shot at living. “It was really depressing and frustrating to know what I used to be,” said Long. “Then I decided to change my attitude from ‘I want to do something’ to ‘I will do something.’ And that made the difference.”
In the autumn of 2008, Matt ran and completed the New York City Marathon. In 2009, he completed the Lake Placid Ironman. He now works out at the gym six days a week doing weight training, low-impact cardio and yoga.
My questions for you: When you’re having a tough day, do you “man-up,” or whine? When your boss “bullies” you unfairly (according to you), do you play the “blame/victim game” or do you assume absolute responsibility for your life and either become part of the solution, learn to live with the situation, or leave? (Those are your only three legitimate choices.) When your operating results are in the tank, do you identify what needs to be done to get back on track and then DO IT, or do you blame (pick one of the following) competition, regulation, the economy, Bangalore, third-world slave-shops, sinus headaches or male-pattern baldness?
The next time you’re having a REALLY bad day, think of Matt Long… then read and re-read this piece. Better yet, tape it to your bathroom mirror and read it every day as a preemptive strike and OWN YOUR LIFE!
For a brief You Tube/HBO piece on Matt, click here. Notice the look of determination on his face – years later. Also check out the I Will Foundation, which Matt started.
Want Success? Discard Hardheadness for Tough Mindedness
Most business executives talk about the importance of collaborating with others. When it comes to execution, however, their behavior often violates this espoused belief. Why? Because “getting things done” becomes a higher priority than “getting people on board.”
Fearing being perceived as indecisive, some execs make lots of decisions themselves that others in their organizations are better qualified to make. They put people in jobs but fail to set and convey specific, measurable expectations of what the job requires. Then they don’t regularly review employee performances against their expectations (often unstated) and move to implement corrective actions. On top of that, they don’t validate people when they perform in positive ways. What happens as a result? People fail in their jobs. Who gets blamed? Everyone but “the man in the mirror.”
Several characteristics distinguish “tough-minded” leadership from “hard-headed” management practices. Consider these:
• Tough-minded execs pursue action that achieves planned results; hard-headed managers aim to solidify their authority and personal power.
• Tough-minded execs select people for jobs based on past performance and position-relevant strengths; hard-headed ones hire people whose views and perspectives match their own.
• Tough-minded managers select strong people and integrate those strengths to create interdependent success; hard-headed managers select weak people, aim to develop their weaknesses, and end up cultivating their dependency.
• Tough-minded managers show a committed candor in their interactions; hard-headed managers verbally espouse a commitment to candor, but “shoot the messenger” when they don’t like the news.
• Along the same lines, tough-minded execs encourage a constant flow of people, from all organizational levels, in and out of their offices; hard-headed ones believe that an “open-door policy” means leaving their doors open and waiting for people to come in.
• Tough-minded execs nurture commitment; hard-headed ones mandate obedience.
• Tough-minded execs recognize that giving people a say doesn’t necessarily mean giving them a vote; hard-headed ones don’t acknowledge the difference. (They don’t even bother to think about it.)
• Tough-minded execs understand that their primary lever of superior organizational performance is people, both customers and associates, so they spend the highest proportion of their time with people; hard-headed ones view any time spent with people as a costly distraction.
• Tough-minded execs use personal interactions as coaching opportunities; hard-headed ones use them to demonstrate personal bravado.
• Tough-minded execs understand that time is their most precious resource and learn to manage it well; hard-headed ones allow time to manage them.
•Tough-minded execs know how to sustain individual and organizational performance; hard-headed ones may “get it” for a short time, but rarely “get it” consistently over time.
• Tough-minded managers know their job is to get people to want to do what needs to be done; hard-headed managers are satisfied merely getting people to do what needs to be done with no encouragement required.
Review these characteristics again with candor and then look in the mirror. Which ones characterize you?
