Next Level Blog

New Leadership Lessons from Yoga

So, let me first assure you that the picture that comes with this post has not been Photoshopped.  That is me in my business clothes standing on my head alongside Melissa, one of my good buddies from yoga. The back story is that yesterday I went straight from a meeting with clients to the Down Dog Yoga studio to sneak in the lunch time class. The folks there are more used to seeing me in shorts and sandals than a jacket and slacks. As soon as I walked in, Alison, the instructor, said "We've got to take pictures of you doing poses in your suit. It will be the business power hour!" I have a hard time saying no to Alison and the next thing I knew, there we were going upside down.

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you might remember a post I wrote about six months ago called Leadership Lessons from Yoga.  When I wrote it, I had been going to yoga for a couple of months and was about as flexible as your average 2x4. The fact that I was doing a headstand in my work clothes for a joke photo yesterday kind of blows me away when I think about it.  The first time I ever did a headstand in my life was in a yoga workshop a couple of weeks before I turned 50 years old. Now, a couple of months later, I'm cranking them out on request. 

Never imagined that I'd be doing that which brings me to a few new leadership lessons from yoga:

Three Things to Consider Before You Quit Your Job in a Huff

The big buzz in baseball last week was the sudden resignation of Washington Nationals manager, Jim Riggleman. As Dave Sheinin reported in the Washington Post, the Nats had just beaten the Seattle Mariners to go over .500 in June for the first time in six years. It was then that the team’s general manager walked into the club house to tell the players that their on-field skipper had just quit.

Apparently, Riggleman had been unhappy with both the salary and short term nature of his contract with the Nationals and told his GM before the game with the Mariners that he wanted a better deal by the end of the game or he was walking. He didn’t get the deal and he walked.

Everyone who has ever dreamed of telling their employer where to put it probably admires Riggleman at some level. You have to wonder, though, if Riggleman woke up the next day thinking, “Man, what have I done?”  The guy was perfectly within his rights to want a better deal. There’s nothing wrong with what he wanted. How he went about trying to get it is another story however. Is any other organization going to hire a manager who walked out on his team in the middle of the season?

Are you a leader who’s considering making a big statement like quitting your job on short notice?  The case of Jim Riggleman offers at least three things to consider before you do something you might regret in the morning:

Leadership in Action at the CDC

Yesterday, I had the good fortune to follow Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control, as a speaker to the leadership fellows of his agency.  His remarks were so fascinating that I was honestly a little disappointed when he wrapped up and it was time for me to speak. On the other hand, as the person who had been asked to deliver a keynote talk on leading at the next level, I couldn’t have had a better set-up than Dr. Frieden.

In his talk, Dr. Frieden did a great job of using stories to demonstrate to the fellows the impact of their work in the field of public health. Most of his stories emphasized the importance of gathering data to both define the problem you’re trying to solve and to measure your progress in solving it.  He also talked a lot about the importance of establishing human to human connection in leading people to make positive changes.

One story he told that really stuck with me was about the five years in he spent India earlier in his career working to rid the country of tuberculosis. Frieden seems like a pretty self aware guy and called himself out over how proud he was of the hours he put in working the TB problem. His typical day in the office, he said, was from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm with additional hours working from home.  As his time in India drew to a close, he was meeting with his counterpart from the Indian government for a final review of their progress. In their conversation, his colleague acknowledged all the hours Frieden put in but said that really wasn’t his most important contribution. Frieden said he took a little umbrage at that until his friend said, “Tom, the most important thing you’ve done is to give us hope.”

Frieden’s story and the rest of his remarks really hit home with me because they so clearly illustrated one of my favorite definitions of leadership. The idea is that leadership is  a two part job. The first part is to define reality. The second part is to offer hope.

That’s what the people of the CDC get to do for a living. As public health professionals, they collect and use data to define reality. Then, through action, communication, influence, collaboration and other ways they offer the hope of healthier lives.

When you think about your organization and your role in it, what are your opportunities to lead by defining reality and offering hope?

What Can You Do with a Ten Minute Break?

Today's post is short and sweet as I have about 10 minutes before they shut the door on my plane.  Which raises the question, "What can you do with a 10 minute break?"

That question is on my mind because I spent a good part of yesterday talking with rising executives in our group coaching program about how being so racked and stacked on their calendars leaves them with very little time to think ahead, reflect back or just recharge.

I've written here before about the running flat out until you crash syndrome that so many leaders are caught up in these days. It's a big problem, but the good news is it doesn't take as much time as you might think to sneak in a break. If you think about your typical day, you probably have 2 or 3 ten minute interludes between meetings or conversations. What do you do with them? Answer more emails or recharge your batteries? 

My hope is it's the latter.  Looking for ideas on what to do in a 10 minute break?  Here's a list of 10 ideas.

And here's an 11th idea from a leader in the group coaching session yesterday.  Look for the laughter. When we were talking about taking breaks yesterday, this client said he listens for the laughter and walks toward it.  For him, it really is the best medicine.

His comment reminded me of an article I read recently in the New York Times, What to Say to Someone Who is Sick.   The idea that really caught my eye was asking:

"WOULD YOU LIKE SOME GOSSIP? One surefire tip: a slight change of topic goes a long way. Patients are often sick of talking about their illness. We have to do that with our doctors, nurses and insurance henchmen. By all means, follow the lead of the individual, but sometimes ignoring the elephant in the room is just the right medicine. Even someone recovering from surgery has an opinion about the starlet’s affair, the underdog in the playoffs or the big election around the corner. "

The principle is the same as walking toward the laughter. The goal in any break is to get your mind off of what's been on your mind.  Any disruption in what you've been thinking about will help with that. 
What do you like to do with a ten minute break?

What I’ve Learned About Leadership From My Wife

Today is my 24th wedding anniversary.  You can accuse me of bias (and you might be right), but my wife, Diane, is one of the best leaders I know.  She may not be famous (although she’s increasingly becoming so to the people who follow her food blog and presence on social media) and is not running any organizations larger than our family, our business and the online communities she’s started.

She is, however, one heck of a leader.  I’ve learned a lot about leadership from Diane in 24 years. Here are just some of the reasons why she’s one of the best leaders I know: