No problem I thought to myself as I laid out my clothes for the next day. Jeans with sport coat and tie will be fine. Those who know me will understand that I rarely plan my next’s day’s dress except when I have a major appearance, such as a keynote speech. This time it was television and so I thought jeans are fine since I will only be photographed from the waist up. Wrong assumption!

Prior to taping, the host of the program took one look at me and said, “We don’t allow jeans.” As I would learn to my chagrin, this show begins with a long shot that reveals host and guest seated on chairs where legs are clearly visible. To make matters worse, I was wearing white athletic socks, a comfortable habit of mine but certainly not suitable for prime time.

What a contrast I presented to the host who was dressed immaculately in a tailored blue suit; she looked totally professional. But with no moments to spare, I was granted a reprieve. The interview was taped as scheduled.

The moral of this tale is something our mothers taught us: Never assume. Assumptions make an ass of you and me! [Even more so when you are wearing white socks!]

Dress code aside, the next time you assume something, you owe it to yourself to check the basis of those assumptions first. And if you are in a leadership position, you owe it to your team to check and re-check all assumptions. To do otherwise could be disastrous.

The history of business is littered with false assumptions. After all, 20th Century Fox assumed the merchandise rights for Star Wars were insignificant so why not let George Lucas have them. IBM assumed it would be fine if Microsoft kept the rights to its new Disk Operating System (DOS); after all the real money was in mainframe computing, “big iron.” And Lehman Brothers assumed that leveraging itself upwards of 20 and 30 times asset was no problem.

Now we know differently, but at the time these assumptions might have seemed like safe bets. Only with the benefit of hindsight do they seem mind-bendingly stupid. And that is the point. Leaders owe to their organizations to question big decisions always. Check and re-check assumptions. Question everything and everyone if the stakes are high. Yes, it’s a pain but better a well-considered decision than a back of the envelope-style calculation.

As the late New York Times columnist William Safire once quipped, “Never assume the obvious is true.” Safire knew the dangers of assuming too much. After all, he once wrote speeches for Richard Nixon who allowed his assumptions about letting his staff handle things instead of owning up to what his administration labeled a “third rate burglary.” That assumption grew to become the affair that brought down his presidency, Watergate.

As for me, you can bet that the next time I am invited to appear on television I will ask about what to wear. Otherwise, I might as well be pinning those white socks on my ears.

Special thanks to Tara Kachaturoff of Michigan Entrepreneur TV for allowing me to appear on her show.

Posted FastCompany.com 1.19.10

You don’t have to like football to appreciate how the University of Alabama is celebrating its brand-new national title. Recognition of fans and players is integral to Alabama’s success.

College football in college towns is akin to high school football. The town takes a vested almost personal interest in not only the school but the coaches, players and staff. So I was impressed when I learned that Alabama put its national championship trophy on display in two Wal-Mart stores in Tuscaloosa, its hometown.

Not only can visitors see the trophy, they can have their picture taken standing next to it. Believe me, if you are a fan of the Crimson Tide this is a big deal. Alabama has a rich legacy of winning football and Tide tradition runs through generations.

This public gesture of displaying the trophy off campus is also a credit to the university to help bridge the divide between town and gown. It is a way to say thank you to the community which supported it (sometimes grumblingly) through tough times. After all, it wasn’t too long ago when football program was in the dumps that there was a popular witticism floating round town. “Tuscaloosa is a drinking town with a football problem.”

The architect of Alabama’s winning ways is head coach Nick Saban. While I do not favor his peripatetic style of hopping from college to pros and back again, there is no doubt that Saban can coach and he knows how to connect with his players; and I recently learned one way he does this.

Football facilities at Alabama, as they are at many schools, celebrate the legacy of athletes who have played at their school through photographs, awards and trophy. The Bryant-Denny football stadium in Tuscaloosa is named in part for Bear Bryant, the coach who led the school to three national titles in his thirty years at the school.

As reported on ESPN Radio’s The Scott Van Pelt Show, Saban has replaced photos of former players with current ones. Not only does this pay recognition to students still in school, it serves as a recruiting tool. Prospective players are encouraged to imagine themselves in poster size pictures adorning the football facility.

What can leaders learn from Alabama’s example? Recognition matters. Pay attention to the communities in which you work and operate. The Great Recession has exacted a heavy toll on corporate giving but many corporations continue to support local communities through the volunteer efforts of their employees. Also, in our era when green matters more and more, corporate citizenship must embrace environmental stewardship. Careful use of resources as well as reducing carbon footprint is essential.

Recognition extends to employees. Honor them regularly for what they do for the company. Find ways to celebrate their successes. The easy way is via e-communications. A more lasting way is to document success through photographs and wall art. Also, as every university does, look for ways to make your company appealing to the next generation of employees. Position your company as an employer of choice, someplace where people want to come to work.

Recognition does matter. Companies that leverage it to honor their employees are those that have a better chance of success.

Posted FastCompany.com 1.12.10

The old coach entered the office of a much younger coach and asked, “Got a minute?”

The old man, then 85, showed the coach a medal he had won as a young track star many decades before. Inscribed on the back of the medal were the words, “Friends. Family. Health.” Then the old man said, “When you are done coaching, make sure you’ve got those three things and that you keep them with you.”

That is a story that Lloyd Carr, now retired after a long and successful career as head football coach at the University of Michigan, told AnnArbor.com about Red Simmons on the occasion of Simmons’ 100th birthday. Simmons is the founding coach of the women’s track program at Michigan and a member of the 1932 U.S. Olympic team. And with traces of red still in his hair, Simmons is still going strong today.

Simmons’ advice is valuable to anyone in a leadership position. The pressures of the moment can and do obfuscate the long view, but it is imperative that leaders do take the time to reflect on what is important to them personally. The words inscribed on the medal are as good as any, and when you think about it, they symbolize how we all should be conducting ourselves.

Friends. Twin concepts underscore friendship: relationship and reciprocity. We want to have relationships who are worthy of giving to and getting from. By that I don’t mean we choose friends because of what they offer in terms of materialism but rather what they bring to the relationship – a story, honest talk, but most of all understanding of us and who we are as people. We reciprocate with our own unique gifts –our stories, our honesty, our understanding.

Family. You can define family as something held together by the twin ideals of love and responsibility. While poets have waxed for millennia about love, for me it comes down to simple respect. Respect for parents may come readily but between husband and wife it is earned. Each must give something to and for the other on a daily basis. Responsibility for family especially when children are involved means making decisions that will benefit others before yourself. The concept of sacrifice holds families together in tough times as well as good ones.

Health. When we speak of health, it may be wise to consider three aspects: physical, mental, and spiritual. Keep yourself fit through exercise and a sensible diet. Take your medicine when required. Mental fitness is essential for your productivity and for that reason you want to exercise your mind through challenge and experience. Spiritual health is the connection to something greater than yourself, however you define it.

Not only do these three words – friends, family, health -- anchor a leader’s life, they provide him or her with a perspective on how to treat others. Leadership is rooted in self awareness but leadership is an outward focused mindset that emphasizes responsibility for others. The words behind the friends, family, health triptych stand for relationship, commitment and responsibility.

Each of these, and all that they encompass, apply when thinking about leading a team, guiding an organization, and holding yourself and others accountable for results. Taken together these principles form a good foundation for thinking about your leadership.

Friends. Family. Health. It’s a good framework for keeping your leadership and your life in perspective.

Posted FastCompany.com 1.05.10

One of the conventions of Star Trek is that all alien life forms can communicate with Star Fleet Federation vessels in perfect English. Communication is made via the Universal Translator , a device that permits fluent two-way communication. Sadly no such device exists between employee and managers.

All too often communication breakdown between boss and direct report because neither is speaking the same language, albeit they are speaking in a language common to each. The problem lies not in words but in expectation. For example, the boss wants an overview but the employee provides granular detail. Or vice versa. So unlike in Star Trek neither is truly communicating with the other.

So here’s a quick way to ensure that you are both meeting each other’s expectations.

One, get on the same wave length. When there is a communication disconnect, have a conversation on the topic, not around it. That is, exchange ideas about how you each other like to receive information. Updates can be handled via email; issues should be handled face to face. Establish a baseline for how often to communicate and about what issues. Managers can show trust for employees by asking for outcomes only on routine matters. Likewise employees can show respect for managers by providing them with timely and meaty updates on significant issues.

Two, tune into the conversation. Listen to what the other says. This is not as easy as it sounds because when boss and employee know each other well the temptation, and exacerbated by the pressure of deadlines, is to leap to conclusions. No, ease up on the schedule and pay attention. You may end up saving a good deal of time.

Three, do a quick brief-back. Put simply, either party, preferably the boss, recaps the conversation in their own words. The other party confirms the details. With a good brief back, a technique practiced by our military, boss and employee gain agreement on next steps.

If you apply these tips, you will in effect be creating your own translator. The only problem is that it is not universal. It is specific to your boss or your employee. You need to “re-program it” for each boss-supervisor relationship you have. But here’s the good news. Once you do it a few times, you’ll become expert and just as in Star Trek be able to communicate with any alien (boss or employee) you encounter!

Posted FastCompany.com 12.29.09

They say the definition of character is what you do when you think no one is looking. The same applies to grace, that sense of dignity one brings to interactions with others.

I was reminded of this the other day when a consultant friend of mine revealed to me that he had lost a piece of business that he had worked hard to get but at the last moment the deal fell through. A similar thing had happened to me a week earlier so I was prepared to sympathize with his disappointment and anger. There was some of the former, but none of the latter.

The ancient Romans had a word for maintaining one’s equilibrium,continentia,or self-control. Such a bearing is vital to leadership, and while I am someone who writes, teaches and coaches this topic frequently I myself sometimes fall short of what I preach. That is why is so refreshing to find examples of it in plain and living color.

When we are disappointed the temptation to lash out is very real. We tempt ourselves with “coulda, shoulda, woulda” when in reality those words are meaningless. It does not matter that you lost the opportunity; what matters is what you do next. Moaning and groaning – at least for more than thirty minutes – is pointless.

Sit down and have a conversation with yourself. Consider what you did right as well as what you could have done better to earn the business. Very honestly, you may have done your very best. But it may not have been what the company needed now. Perhaps another provider had more experience, or yes even a relative who worked inside the company.

So learn from the experience. Consider what you will do better the next time. And yes that includes not applying for such work, if you think it is outside your scope or your abilities. Focus on what you can do, as legendary coach John Wooden teaches, rather than what you cannot do.

Living with grace, that is, maintaining your self-control, likely will not mean much in the heat of the moment of disappointment when your blood is boiling and your psyche wounded. But such words will mean something down the line. If you allow them to!

Posted FastCompany.com 12.22.09