Jack Welch (1935-March 1, 2020) the only child of a railroad conductor from Peabody, MA attributed his success to his mother, Grace, who he regularly called the most influential person in his life.

Grace Welch invested in her son both with love and tough love and left a powerful and positive legacy of her own. “Grace Welch taught me the value of competition, just as she taught me the pleasure of winning and the need to take defeat in stride.” 

Jack Welch wrote in his memoir. “If I have any leadership style, a way of getting the best out of people, I owe it to her. Tough and aggressive, warm and generous, she was a great judge of character. She always had opinions of the people she met. She could ‘smell a phony a mile away.’”

“The insights she drilled into me never faded,” he recalled. “She always insisted on facing the facts of a situation. One of her favorite expressions was ‘Don’t kid yourself. That’s the way it is.’”

“Perhaps the greatest single gift she gave me was self-confidence,” Welch reminisced. “It’s what I’ve looked for and tried to build in every executive who has ever worked with me. Confidence gives you courage and extends your reach. It lets you take greater risks and achieve far more than you ever thought possible. Building self-confidence in others is a huge part of leadership. It comes from providing opportunities and challenges for people to do things they never imagined they could do—rewarding them after each success in every way possible.”

Every organization has a culture, whether positive or negative. In the same context every leader will leave a legacy, whether positive or negative, memorable or forgotten, impactful or dispassionate. 

Since authenticity is another attribute of great leaders, positive, impactful, and memorable legacies are not something that can be conjured up. Like the cultures that they create during their life, positive, impactful, and memorable legacies are the byproduct of great leaders simply living their values.

That does not mean that a leader cannot be intentional about their behaviors during their life. Quite the opposite, it’s the intentionality of the leader as it relates to their behaviors that allows them to create both positive, impactful, and memorablecultures and legacies.

An article in Entrepreneur provides further insights: Leaving a Positive Leadership Legacy Is Really About Living Your Values Now

The preface from a book in The Ken Blanchard Series on Leadership suggests that whatever your position, if you influence change in the lives of those around you, you are engaged in an act of leadership. And if you are a leader in any sense, you are creating a legacy as you live your daily life. That legacy is the sum total of the difference you make in the lives of others. 

Will you consciously craft your legacy or simply leave it up to chance? nbsp; Through an insightful parable Your Leadership Legacy shows how to create a positive, empowering legacy that will endure and inspire. You’ll learn that, as a leader, the legacy you live is the legacy you leave. Three Leadership Imperatives: dare to be a person, not a position, dare to connect and dare to drive the dream, will guide you in creating a positive and lasting legacy.

According to Inc (https://www.inc.com/ben-fanning/5-ways-the-best-leaders-leave-unforgettable-legacies.html) most leaders do not leave legacies and they are never mentioned again when they leave an organization. Others leave negative legacies and are usually fired in the process. But others leave powerful legacies hat live on for years, continuing to make positive impacts in staff meetings, presentations, and even at the water cooler.

So, how do you leave a positive, impactful, and memorable legacy?

The Inc article, referenced above, suggests there are five things leaders can be intentional about to affect the legacy they leave:

1. Prioritize people over results
2. Invest your time and money
3. Connect in person
4. Control less; empower more
5. Model behavior you want to last

Great Leaders start each day by asking themselves “what kind of legacy do I want to leave today?”

Herb Mast is a Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

This Herbism provides a best efforts attempt to explain what trust is, why trust is so important as a basis for high performance teams, and how to create a trusting environment.

What is trust?

The concept of trust is hard to explain because trust is largely [75%] an emotional construct and the emotional brain (Limbic) does not have the ability to speak—it feels—and relies on the rational brain (Neocortex) to translate those feelings into words.

That’s why when we truly trust, or don’t, it’s something we feel and not something we are able to easily put our finger on.

Here are some simple words and concepts that might help provide a basic understanding:

• Rational Trust (25% of what drives behavior) has two components:
  • Competence: believing that somebody has the ability to do what they say they will do.
  • Reliability: believing that somebody will do what they say they will do.
• Emotional Trust (75% of what drives our behavior) has two components:
  • Authenticity: sensing that somebody is genuine in their representations and interactions—includes transparency.
  • Care: sensing that somebody is putting others’ best interests ahead of their own—includes selflessness.

Why is trust so important as a foundation for high performance teams?

Without trust team members are known to:

• Lie: Not forthright about the real issues and concerns—excuses are common.
• Hide: Not transparent about weaknesses and shortcomings.
• Fake: Not admit that they don’t know how to do something or that they need help—blame is common.
  

Patrick Lencioni, author of The Ideal Team Player and The Advantage—Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business, offers the following perspectives:

• Trusting teams engage in open conflict, and then commit to decisions – team members have the courage and confidence to confront one another when they see something that isn’t serving the team. 
• On trusting teams people feel free to admit what they don’t know, make mistakes, ask for help if they need it, apologize when necessary, and not hold back their opinions. 
• When team members trust each other and know that everyone is capable of admitting when they’re wrong, then conflict becomes nothing more than the pursuit of truth or the best possible answer.

In an environment of trust team members feel safe and are willing to be vulnerable, which allows them to function at their natural best. 

How to create a trusting environment…

The formula is actually quite simple. It requires both intentionality and consistency of trustworthy behaviors over time.

In other words, it cannot be a program or act. Leaders must be intentional, proactive, and consistent in being authentic and caring. It must be a lifestyle.

Great leaders are intentional in the their attitudes and actions in building trusting teams recognizing that a high trust environment leads to better decision making, more engaged teams, higher performance, and a greater sense of well being both for the leader and the people they lead. 

Here is a great video that captures the value of building trusting teams:

Herb Mast is a Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

Synergy is not about my way or your way…it’s about our way!

Synergy happens when people come together to achieve common goals. 

Synergy requires a few key elements to be present:

• Talent: Task specific strength and skill
• Diversity: Different and complimentary talents that overcome the inherent weaknesses of others
• Coordinated Effort: Everybody working together to maximize forward motion while minimizing drag
• Humility: Selflessness, which minimizes ego and enables coordination.

Great leaders create synergy within teams, recognizing that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and thereby achieve greater effectiveness, efficiency, and results. 

Herb Mast is a Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

Do you ever catch yourself saying I, me, or my when addressing your team? 

Granted, there are times when it is appropriate, like when giving praise, or even necessary, like when accepting responsibility. For example, “I would like to recognize Mary for her outstanding work with Mr. and Mrs. Jones yesterday. She was a wonderful representation of our team values, especially hospitality.” Or, “I apologize that my decision to rush the job resulted in us not catching the typo in the copy before it went to press.”

But I am talking about the other 90% of the time here.

It is easy to dismiss and minimize the importance of saying we, us, and our and fall into a habit of saying I, me, and my. Not only does saying I, me, and my feed our egos, but it can often feel to those at the top of the organization like they are doing more of the work simply because they have power to make more of the decisions.

Self-aware and humble leaders, however, recognize that the real work of an organization is done by the team and not readily attributable to a single person. Great leaders also recognize that I, me, and my puts the spotlight on themselves and diminishes the inherent value and engagement of their team members.

Being a leader often sucks because it requires giving away all of the credit, when things go well, and taking all of the responsibility, when things turn out poorly.

In order to put the spotlight where it will have the greatest impact great leaders make a concerted effort to say we, us, and our.

Herb Mast is a Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

We are all endowed with freewill and the power of choice.

We are empowered to choose our own path [and the consequences that come with it]. The good news is we can choose a different path at any time.

The reality is, if we do not choose our path we will not be committed to it and the journey will be more difficult—not only for us, but those who are journeying with us. Further, not only will we be less inclined to invest energy into the journey we do not choose, but we will also be more inclined to give up when faced with struggles and roadblocks.

Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, popularized the metaphor of a bus and the importance of getting the right people on the bus and in the right seats. To have the wrong people on the bus is disruptive. It is better to stop the bus and invite the wrong people off the bus than to try to change them along the way.

To use a different analogy, imagine a football team. You are the head coach and you are recruiting players for your team. You walk into a room filled with talented athletes. How do you select the right players to assemble a team with the greatest potential? I suggest that the first question to ask each athlete is, “how much do you love the game of football?”

If their answers were given as a number between 0-10, which players would likely be the best choice? Those that answer 10! Everything is easier when internal desires and passions are aligned with the game [aka mission].

Imagine, if instead your initial selection criterion was to evaluate physical conditioning. You might end up with a team of athletes but who are not driven to use those talents for football. It would be better to find out what sport they like most and encourage them to pursue that than trying to get them to fall in love with football.

Unfortunately, too many managers hire “athletes” than those who have passion for the game/mission.

That is why great leaders do not try to change people. Change must come from within.

Rather, great leaders create an environment that encourages and supports beneficial change and that attracts and retains talented people who share their passion for the mission.

Herb Mast is a Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

Just Do It…Nike’s famous slogan is a great thought, but it does not go far enough. Like many similar thoughts it can end with thoughts [good intentions] but no results.

What’s wrong with good intentions, and why would the road to hell be paved with them?

Consider the following riddle…

Three frogs were on a log and one decided it would jump off.  How many frogs were left on the log?

If your answer is two, chances are you are less effective in your endeavors than you could be.

The correct answer is three. Just because a frog decides to jump off does not mean that it follows through and actually jumps. Too many people have good ideas and make good choices, but do not add necessary action in order to effect change.

Good intentions are an important initial step, but good intentions without action are meaningless. What’s worse is that good intentions can lead to a false sense of accomplishment. Otherwise why would so many overweight and out of shape people wear t-shirts bearing Just Do It while they sit on the couch and watch sports on TV. Instead, they should be out there Just Doing It!

Intentionality is about action. Little actions, which are as easy to do as they are not to do. But because of inertia they tend not to get done. The principle of inertia says that a body in motion tends to stay in motion and a body at rest tends to stay at rest.

People who practice intentionality start with good intentions, but are resolved to take little steps knowing that little actions lead to big change over time. 

Consider the story of the penny (read it at MyPennyStory.com) that becomes a billion pennies in just 30 days.

The practice of intentionality involves:

• A philosophy aligned with desired results
• A plan that can achieve the desired results
• A resolve that overcomes inertia and takes little steps in line with the plan

When I turned 50 I discovered intentionality and it not only enabled me to lose 50 lbs but has helped me to keep the weight off for seven years. Intentionality is not a diet, but a lifestyle. A commitment to action. Little actions each day, like taking the stairs instead of escalators and elevators.

Almost anything can be achieved through a practice of intentionality.

Herb Mast is a Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

Steve Jobs once said, “if you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.”

Most people are impatient for results and expect change overnight. Sustainable change, however, typically involves a perpetual cycle of idea…plan…action…reflect…feedback…tweak to create incremental improvement over time.

Each New Year brings opportunity to reflect, gain perspective, and make simple, and often subtle, changes that allow us, and the organizations we lead, to climb out of detrimental ruts and adopt new ideas to build thrive environments.

Research shows that on average US workers are only 48% engaged in their work, whereas employees in thrive environments are up to twice as engaged. 

With employee compensation often being the largest overall expense item, finding ways to increase employee engagement can result in huge savings.

Consider a story told by Simon Sinek about a barista named Noah who works at a coffee stand in the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas. Sinek tells how he was so impressed with Noah’s positive and engaging demeanor that he gave him a 100% tip. 

As Sinek got his coffee he asked Noah if he likes his job. Without hesitation Noah said he loves his job. When asked what the Four Seasons Hotel does to cause him to say he loves his job Noah replies that all day long managers, all managers—not just his own manager, walk by the coffee stand and say hello, ask if there is anything he needs, and how they can be helpful to him.

Noah quickly adds that he also works part-time at Caesar’s Palace where the managers micro-manage and look for things that staff are doing wrong. He shares that at Caesar’s Palace staff keep their heads down and try to get through the day so they can collect their paychecks.

Same guy…different environments…huge differences in employee [and customer] engagement!

So what is the biggest determinant of a thrive environment? The answer is simple: leaders who care. 

Too many managers and bosses say they are leaders and that they care, but their teams and customers don’t reflect this assertion. Creating a thrive environment requires true selfless servant-leadership and a real attitude of care, which puts the interests of others above your own.

Implementing a thrive environment takes conviction, clarity, courage, consistency, intentionality, and time. 

These Herbisms are intended to provide weekly practical insights into how to become a better and more caring leader. Read each Herbism and find ways to incorporate the principles and concepts into your daily efforts that week. If you do, with humility, others will see incremental change in your behavior and respond accordingly.

Herb Mast is a Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

Stephen Covey’s 4^th Habit, from his iconic book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, is about thinking Win-Win, which he suggests is the best way to work with others to achieve optimal results.

According to the Franklin Covey Institute (https://www.franklincovey.com/the-7-habits/habit-4.html):

Think Win-Win isn’t about being nice, nor is it a quick-fix technique. It is a character-based code for human interaction and collaboration. 

Most of us learn to base our self-worth on comparisons and competition. We think about succeeding in terms of someone else failing–that is, if I win, you lose; or if you win, I lose. Life becomes a zero-sum game. There is only so much pie to go around, and if you get a big piece, there is less for me; it’s not fair, and I’m going to make sure you don’t get anymore. We all play the game, but how much fun is it really? 

Covey says, “in the long run, if it isn’t a win for both of us, we both lose. That’s why win-win is the only real alternative in interdependent realities.”

Win-win sees life as a cooperative arena, not a competitive one. Win-win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. Win-win means agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial and satisfying. We both get to eat the pie, and it tastes pretty darn good! 

A person or organization that approaches conflicts with a win-win attitude possesses three vital character traits:

1. Integrity: sticking with your true feelings, values, and commitments
2. Maturity: expressing your ideas and feelings with courage and consideration for the ideas and feelings of others
3. Abundance Mentality: believing there is plenty for everyone

To go for win-win, you not only have to be empathic, but you also have to be confident. You not only have to be considerate and sensitive, you also have to be brave. To do that, to achieve that balance between courage and consideration, is the essence of real maturity and is fundamental to win-win.

Great Leaders seek win-win and the following video provides an example of how they do that as leaders and not as bosses or managers:

Leaders must resist the urge of doing the work themselves and resist the urge to micromanage. The goal is not just to get the work done, but to develop the character of the team.

Herb Mast is a Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

When I hit a bad shot in golf, which I often do, it is not uncommon for me to say, “what a dumb game!” But then I remind myself that golf is less of a game and more a metaphor for life:

• Golf is more of a process and to do well you need to trust your swing and trust the process. 
• Don’t play golf to relax. Rather you need to relax to play golf.
• You can’t steer the ball.
• It’s a game of fractions. A little bit off in execution has a dramatic effect on results.
• The more you force it, the worse you seem to play.
• If you are a golfer you no doubt have many you can add to this list.

What about business and life? Are they games?

Much depends on how you define “game.”

Game is usually defined in terms of sports, amusement activities, or contests, but the Merriam-Webster definition that correlates best with the message here is: “a procedure or strategy for gaining an end.”

Simon Sinek provides thought provoking perspective in his book The Infinite Game. He comes to the conclusion that most business people do not know what game they are in [but would benefit greatly if they did] and explains that ultimately there are two games, which exist and prevail in the business world. 

The first, the Finite Game, involves known players, fixed rules, and an agreed upon [finite] objective—to win. 

To demonstrate he suggests that baseball is a finite game. There are two teams, the rules are clear, and the objective is to score more runs than the other team. A team that is outscored at the end of nine innings cannot suggest that they are actually the better team and all they need is a few additional innings to prove it. Everybody understands that is not how baseball works—the game is over if one team has more runs than the other after nine innings.

The second, the Infinite Game, involves known and unknown players, the rules are changeable, and the objective is to keep the game going. It is not about winning as much as perpetuating the game and getting incrementally better over time.

Marriage is an infinite game. It is not about spouses competing with each other, but rather working together to have a strong and sustainable relationship.

Games are stable when finite players are pitted against finite players (a contest to determine a winner and a loser) or infinite players are pitted against infinite players (where there are no winners or losers). Conflict arises, however, and the game breaks down, when the two types of games are comingled. 

So, is business a finite or infinite game? Unfortunately, since most business people are not clear about what game they are in, they are surprised when their finite mindset players do not work well with their infinite mindset players. 

Finite players do what they believe is necessary to win—to make the sale, to maximize short term profits, to negotiate the lowest cost, etc.

Infinite players on the other hand are focused on long-term and keeping the game going—customers for life, sustainable profits, win-win negotiations, getting incrementally better, etc.

While I’m sure there are finite aspects to every business, the most successful organizations seem to play by infinite principles. 

Watch Simon Sinek’s presentation of the Infinite Game in the following video and see if it doesn’t change the way you look at how you are doing business [and other aspects of life].

Great leaders are clear about what game they are in and it changes how and why they do what they do.

Herb Mast is a Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

I am especially intrigued with the year 2020 and the possibilities it will bring. 

For those that have one of my Intentionality Pennies you will remember that I intentionally chose the year 2020 to be stamped on it – to provide for hindsight and foresight.

But before transitioning into a new year it is important to take time to reflect on the past year to determine which things to take on the next leg of the journey, and which need to be left behind.

Your creative and emotional brain (Limbic) functions best in a peaceful and quiet setting without stress and interruption. That is why reflection does not generally take place during the busyness of most schedules, and why it is important to periodically set aside time for this valuable activity.

Healthy organizations typically undertake annual retreats, which include time for reflection.

To facilitate effective reflection do the following:

• Set aside a period of uninterrupted and undistracted time—usually involving no cell phones or computers. Set aside more time than less—typically a good amount of time is 1-4 hours. Plan for longer as it will often take an initial period of time to simply unclutter and slow down the brain, especially if this is not a regular activity.
• Have a supply of blank paper (at least 4 pages), a few pens, and a number of highlighters (green, yellow, and blue will be needed). This is a time for effectiveness, not efficiency. Most will use more paper than less. So bring more than seems necessary.
• Find a quiet, positive, and tranquil place where interruption is unlikely. Some call these their “happy places.” It is important that there is nothing about the location that is stressing or that invokes negative memories as this counteracts the reflective process.
• Bring a snack, not a meal, along with drinking water. Keep it simple and conducive to thinking, not sleeping.
• Relieve bodily bio needs in advance to avoid the need for finding a bathroom in the middle of the reflective process.
• To start the reflective process, write a list of as many things that you’re thankful for. Gratitude is an incredibly cleansing activity that will create a positive environment for your Limbic brain to function better.
• After writing out a list of gratitude items take two separate pieces of paper and write “Things that went well in 2019” at the top of one and “Things that went poorly in 2019” at the top of another. Write out as many things as possible on each of the two sheets. When you feel you have exhausted each of the lists try to add at least three more to each sheet. Some of the best thoughts are hidden under a bunch of clutter and need to be mined for.
• Next take the “Things that went poorly in 2019” sheet and categorize each item as:
  • Things that need to be avoided in 2020—indicate these by running a line through those items;
  • Things that brought value, but should be done differently—indicate these by highlighting them in blue.
• Next take the “Things that went well in 2019” sheet and categorize each item as:
  • Things that need to be continued, or increased, in 2020—indicate these by highlighting them in green;
  • Things that need to be continued, but improved—indicate these by highlighting them in yellow.
• Take a fresh piece of paper:
  • Write “My 2020 Commitments” at the top
  • Create two columns with the following headers:
    • Things I will STOP doing in the next year—and make a list of the crossed out items from the “Things that need to be avoided in 2020” sheet.
    • Things I will FOCUS on in the next year—and make a list of the green highlighted items from the “Things that need to be continued, or increased, in 2020” sheet
  • Spend the rest of your reflective time on this sheet and consider what your year will look like if you truly stop doing the items listed on this sheet and focus on the other items.
• At the end of your reflective time:
  • Put the “Gratitude” and “My 2020 Commitments” pages in a place where you can review them at the start of each day in the next year.
  • Schedule a time to review the “Things that went poorly in 2019” and “Things that went well in 2019” sheets with your team in order to:
    • Align around your perspectives of things that need to be eliminated (or delegated to others) and things that need to be focused on
    • Brainstorm around things that need to be done differently. Assign each item to an individual who will own the improvement process.
    • Brainstorm around things that need to be continued, but improved. Assign each item to an individual who will own the improvement process.

Reflection is done by few. That is why most people are caught in the vicious cycle of insanity—doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.

Great leaders, however, take time to reflect and adjust the trajectory of their year to focus the time and energies of themselves and their organizations on those areas which will produce the best results in line with the vision and mission of the organization.

How will you transition into the new year? With a time of reflection? Or by staying in the whirlwind of the vicious cycle?

Herb Mast is a Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.