J.D. Meier's Blog : Speakers

Jack Canfield Speaks at Microsoft

J.D. Meier — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:25:56 GMT

I posed my Lessons Learned from Jack Canfield on Sources of Insight. Jack presented to Microsoft earlier in October. He's the author of many successful books including Chicken Soup for the Soul and The Success Principles. He holds the Guinness Book World Record for having seven books simultaneously on the New York Times Bestseller List. Impressive!

I ended up taking a lot of notes, way more than I expected. He had a good way of boiling down some key insights. I liked the fact that I didn't have any expectations going in, since I didn't actually realize who he was at first. This meant that I was purely judging the session by results and with an open mind.

We shook hands and spoke briefly. I'm glad I got to meet him. The more I research his work, the more I'm impressed. He's obviously dedicated a lot of his life to studying and sharing success, and he's a top success coach and presenter.

My Related Posts

Ken Blanchard Speaks at Microsoft

J.D. Meier — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:59:40 GMT

Ken Blanchard spoke at Microsoft last week. He's all about empowering people, growing people, and helping everybody get an A. This post is my notes from the session.

Catch People Doing Something Right, Accentuate the Positive
I'm putting this right up front because Ken said if there was only one thing he could be remembered for, he would want it to be:

"Catch People Doing Something Right, Accentuate the Positive."

Random Highlights
Here's a sampling of some of the one-liners and insights from the session:

The triad is the provider of choice, employer of choice, investment of choice.
People will compete with you in garages -- have the triad.
Bring your brains to the job vs. kiss up the hierarchy.
Write the final exam up front.
Life's about getting A's. Everybody gets A's.
The journey of an effective leader starts with self-leadership (who are you)
None of us is as smart as all of us (the collective brain)
Don't ask yes/no questions -- ask, what's one thing we could have done differently to make your experience better?
Know your rank order values. Walk your values. Don't have too many values.
Profit is the applause you get for taking care of customers and being a motivating place to work.
Get customers telling stories about you.
Who does she work for? a duck or an eagle? Ducks quack excuses. Eagles soar above the crowd. Bring your brains to work.
You got what you got (your team), what are you going to do?
Help people accomplish goals and have goals tied into the organization.
Now you have the position, don't use it (don't use your position -- it's on loan.)
All the important stickers went on people (people are the most important asset.)
Ken's favorite insight from the movie Ghost - "You can take the love with you."
What Ken's mom taught him -- "Don't act like you're better than anybody ...but don't let anybody act like they're better than you."

Philanthropy is the News Around the World
Ken travels the world and the big news he kept hearing about was the philanthropy. Specifically, the news was focused on Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. The fact that Buffet trusts the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help the world sends a powerful message.

4 Keys to Lead at a Higher Level
Ken framed out 4 keys to lead at a higher level:

Set your sights on the right target and vision. Ken reminded us that since Alice didn't know where she wanted to go, the Chesire cat told her that the direction doesn't matter.
Treat your customers right. Decide, discover, and deliver.
Treat your people right. If you don't treat your people right, they won't take care of your customers (the customers are the only people they can beat up.)
Have the right kind of leadership. Effective leadership starts on the inside. You don't own the position, it's on loan. Be a servant leader over a self-serving leader.

Decide, Discover and Deliver
To treat your customers right, Ken provided a decide, discover, deliver approach:

Decide. Decide what experience you want your customers to have. For example, one gas station used the "Indianapolis pitstop experience" and had the slogan, "jump to the pump."
Discover. Listen to what your customers want and see if it makes sense to include their suggestions in your vision. Don't ask yes/no questions -- ask, what's one thing we could have done differently to make your experience better?
Deliver. To implement your customer service vision, invert the traditional pyramid and empower your people.

Turn the Pyramid Upside Down
Turn the pyramid upside down. Have your team bring their brains to work vs. kiss up the hierarchy. Don't have them be ducks (who just quack excuses why they can't do this or can't do that.) Empower them to be eagles who soar above the crowd.

A Fortunate 500 List According to Ken Blanchard
Ken suggested the idea of a Fortunate 500 list. A Fortunate 500 Company would have a triple bottom line and be a good citizen in the community.

Customers, Business, Employees (The Triple Bottom Line)
The triple bottom line includes:

Provider of choice (customers)
Employer of choice (employees)
Investment of choice (business)

Ken remarked that profit is the applause you get for taking care of customers and being a motivating place to work.

Organizational Vitality, Employee Passion, Customer Devotion
Ken outlined the keys to organizational vitality:

Organizational vitality. Organizational vitality is supported by customer devotion and employee passion (which support each other). The employees don't see strategic initiatives in their day to day, so the biggest impact on org vitality is how does their boss threat them and how are they evaluated? (fair/just?)
Strategic leadership. Strategic leadership supports org vitality. Strategic leadership includes vision, culture, and strategic imperatives.
Organizational leadership. Organizational leadership supports employee passion and customer devotion. Organizational leadership includes policies and procedures (indirect relationship on strategy), leader behaviors, and fairness / justice.

From Self-Leadership to Organizational Leadership
The journey of an effective leader starts with self-leadership (who are you) and progresses to organizational leadership:

Self-leadership (who are you)
One-to-one leadership
Team leadership
Organizational leadership

Ken noted that one of his favorite mantras is -- none of us is as smart as all of us.

3 Skills of Situational Leader
Ken identified 3 skills of a situational leader:

Diagnosis - figuring our the development level.
Flexibility - adapting your leadership style based on the development level.
Partnering for performance - helping everybody get A's.

The 4 D's (Development Level)
The four development levels vary by competence and motivation. If you can identify which development level somebody is in, you can use the right leadership style:

D1 - Enthusiastic beginner (low competence, high commitment)
D2 - Disillusioned learner (low competence, low commitment)
D3 - The capable, but cautious performer (low to some competence, variable commitment)
D4 - The self-reliant achiever (high competence, high commitment)

4 Leadership Styles
The four leadership styles range from directing to delegating:

S1 - Directive
S2 - Coaching
S3 - Supportive
S4 - Delegating

Your leadership style varies by how you need to teach skills and provide motivation. You match your leadership style based on the development level.

More Supporting, Less Delegating
Ken noted that the most common style in tech is delegating (telling folks what to do), but that it only works if you have self-reliant achievers. He said lots of situations where somebody fails, it's because the leader didn't spend enough time supporting. For example, somebody might be great at sales, but poor at administration and could use more support.

Don't Be a Seagul
Ken described the seagul type manager:

Flies in
Makes a lot of noise
Dumps on everyone
Flies out

Yuck! Don't be a seagul.

How to Manage Effectively
Ken gave us a recipe for managing effectively:

Teach situational leadership II
Agree on goals
Agree on level of performance
Diagnose development level
Agree on appropriate leadership style
Follow up on agreements

Leadership vs. Management
When a colleague asked Ken about his thoughts on the difference between leadership and management, he said he doesn't get involved in the debate. He doesn't think management should play 2nd fiddle.

Don't Rank Employees on a Bell Curve
Ken made a few key points against ranking employees on a bell curve:

Why screw a certain percentage?
You don't hire losers to fill slots.
Putting your new people at the bottom doesn't encourage them.

Help Everybody Get A's
Ken's recipe for results is:

Give out the final exam up front
Teach people answers to get the A's
Demonstrate how you've helped them get A's each quarter
Have an informal formal review each quarter
A review at the end of the year should be a review -- not a surprise.

Share Them With Your Competition
What happens if you give help people get A's but they don't get A's:

If they're a good citizen, then help them find the right position.
If they're not a good citizen, then share them with your competition.

From self-serving leaders to Servant Leadership
Ken gave us three ways that somebody moves from a self-serving leader to servant-leadership:

Near death experience
Spiritual awakening
Be a role model

Basically it's life-changing events or by following an example.

Egos Anonymous
There's two ends of the spectrum with ego issues:

False pride
Self-doubt / fear

The problem with ego issues is that the world spins around you. Ken said the key is to put the focus somewhere else. When you put the focus on something else, the fear goes away.

Ken told us about "Egos Anonymous" meetings. He said at the meetings, people introduce themselves with "I'm an ego maniac, the last time my ego got in the way ..."

The irony is, everybody wants to go last to be more clever, funnier -- and that's an ego thing.

Bigger Emphasis on Results or Developing People?
Ken pointed out that it's not an either/or it's a both/and. The keys are:

Fixing motivation.
Fixing capability.

The Secret of Great Leaders
Ken told us the secret of great leaders:

Values, results and people
Emphasis on results
Significant investment in their lives
Express appreciation

You're Learning or Dying
Ken told us we're learning or dying:

Reinvent continuously.
How will your resume be different next year?
Are you learning from mentors?

SERVE - What Great Leaders Know and Do
Ken explained that SERVE is what great leaders know and do:

See the future.
Engage and develop others
Reinvent continuously.
Value results and relationship.
Embody the values.

Leadership is Love
Ken told us leadership is love:

Loving your mission
Loving your customers
Loving your people
Loving yourself -- enough to get out of the way so others can be magnificent.

How To Implement the program
Ken said he's seen remarkable impact when organizations apply the knowledge. He said there's three keys:

Performance management program (3,4,5x the difference)
Situational leadership
Final exam.

Wrap Up
At the end of the talk, I met Ken and he signed my copy of The 3 Keys to Empowerment. What surprised me the most was how down to earth and engaged in the moment he was. I thanked him for teaching people situational leadership. I asked him where the II part came from in Situational Leadership II and he told me the story of the split. I told him it would be great to be able to read stories like that in his blog, if he had one.

3 Actions
As a habit, I challenge myself to turn what I learn into three things I can apply. There's always more I can do, but I start with three. Here they are:

Help everybody get A's. I'll start by diagnose the development levels on my team. Does somebody on the team need more encouragement or more instruction than they're getting right now?
Figure out how my resume will be different next year. I used to do this exercise regularly, but it's been a while. Flashing forward is a great way to help me choose certain paths over others.
Decide, discover, and deliver the right customer experience. Very practically put, stop asking yes, no questions and start asking, what's one thing we could have done differently to make your experience better?

Stephen Covey Speaks at Microsoft

J.D. Meier — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:58:04 GMT

Dr. Stephen Covey presented at Microsoft today. It’s one thing to know the information; it’s another to experience the delivery live.

This post is a bit longer than usual, but hey, it’s not every day that Covey is in the house. Here are some of my highlights from today’s session.

The Lighthouse Story
Covey opened with a story of Captain Horatio Hornblower. As the story goes, one night at sea, Horatio awakens to find that a ship is in his sea-lane about 20 miles away and refuses to move. Horatio commands the other ship to move starboard, 20 degrees at once. The other ship refuses and tells Horatio that he should move his ship starboard, 20 degrees at once. Next, Horatio tries to pull rank and size on the other ship, stating that he’s a captain and that he’s on a large battle ship. The other ship replies, and it turns out it’s not actually a ship, but a lighthouse.

The take away from the story is, there are lighthouse principles. You don’t break them. You only break yourself against them. Don’t break yourself against lighthouse principles.

Values and Principles
Covey distinguished values from principles:

Values drive behavior.
Principles drive the consequences of behavior.

The key take aways are:

If you take the short cuts in life, you pay the price of confidence and trust.
Build your personal value system on principles.

Personal Mission Statement
Covey asked us whether we had personal mission statements? Some folks raised their hands. He then asked us how many have them written down. A lot less kept their hands raised. I kept my hand raised because I happen to have my personal mission statement written down. My personal mission statement is, “To find the best way for any person to succeed in any situation.” I tie this back at work, where I try to help customers be as effective as possible, building on the Microsoft platform.

Family Mission Statement
Covey then challenged the audience whether we had mission statements for our families? That one made me think. He then challenged, if you asked your loved ones, would they know it? Now there’s a good test!

He challenged us to go home and ask, “What’s the purpose of our family?” He warned us though, that our families will know that we’ve been seminar’ed!

Write and Visualize to Imprint on Your Subconscious
Covey reminded us that writing down your mission imprints it in the subconscious mind. He added that visualizing also imprints on the sub-concsious mind.

The take away is that you should write and visualize your mission statements.

Keys to a Mission Statement
Covey put it succinctly that a good mission statement is:

Memorizable.
Short.
Follows the natural laws of principles.

Why a Mission Statement
Covey told us that the power of a mission statement is that it governs every other decision.

Sean Covey
Covey introduced his son, Sean Covey. Sean wrote The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers and The 6 Most Important Decisions You Will Ever Make. When Covey introduced Sean, he also mentioned a 49th grand-child on the way. 49 … WOW! That’s quite the impressive team.

Point to True North
Covey had us close our eyes and point to true North. When we opened our eyes, it was obvious there was little consistency. He said he gets similar results when he asks any department, group, or team – “what’s your purpose?”

Urgent But Not Important
Covey asked us how many struggle with work/life balance. Many hands went up. He then asked us what we think is the percentage of time we spend on things that are urgent, but not important.

He said people often report they feel they spend 50% of their time on urgent, but not important tasks. Why is that? Covey stated it’s because everybody defines purpose differently.

Office Politics and Dysfunctional Activities
Covey asked us how much time people spend in office politics. By office politics, he meant, reading the tea leaves, dealing with hidden agendas, fighting cross-group conflict, … etc. The data says that 75% of people claim they spend 25% of their time on these things. 25% say that 50% of their time is spent in dysfunctional activities. Urgency replaces important activities.

The key take away is that people feel they spend a lot of time on dysfunctional activities.

Six Metastasizing Cancers (Victimism)
Covey showed us a slide that listed what he called the Six Metastasizing Cancers:

Criticizing
Complaining
Comparing
Competing
Contending
Cynicism

The take away here is that these are ineffective behaviors and you end up acting like a victim.

Are You Utilized to Your Full Potential
Covey asked us whether we can use our full talent and capacity in our organization. He then asked us whether we feel the pressure to produce more for less. The point here was to emphasize how there’s a demand for greater results, but that we’re not necessarily utilized to our full potential.

It’s Not Behavior, It’s Not Attitude … It’s a Bad Map
Covey gave us a scenario where somebody gets a map of Seattle. The problem is, the map maker made a mistake. It’s not really a map of Seattle. It’s a map of Oregon. With this map, you can’t even make it out of the airport. There isn’t one corresponding point.

Trying harder isn’t the answer. If you double your speed, now you’re lost twice as fast. Thinking negatively isn’t the problem. Covey said some people might try to use a PMA (Positive Mental Attitude.) Well, that doesn’t help either. Now you’re all psyched up, but really you are just happy and contented in a lost state.

The take away here is that it’s not behavior and it’s not attitude. It’s a bad map.

Self-Educating
Covey told us that we need to be self-educating. School taught us how to learn, but we need to continue to learn. He said we need to be willing to pay the price to be self-educating, which includes being systematic and disciplined.

Industrial Age vs. Knowledge Worker Age
Covey points out that 20 years ago, it was about goods and services. Today, it’s about knowledge workers.

-	Industrial Age	Knowledge Worker Age
Overall Philosophy	Kind Control	Unleash Talent
Leadership	Position (Formal Authority)	Choice (Moral Authority)
Culture	Boss Centered	Complementary Team, Servant Leadership
People	Expense	Asset
Motivation	External	Internal (Inspiration)
Management	The Boss owns responsibility for results, therefore manages and motivates.	The culture owns responsibility for results, therefore self manages.

Expenses and Assets
Covey asked us what we are called in spreadsheets. He said that in spreadsheet and financial accounting, people are called expenses and cost centers, while things like microphones, tools, and machines are called assets. He said this is left-over from the industrial age.

Finding Your Voice
Covey asked how do you help people find their voice? You ask them what are they good at? What do they love doing? What is your greatest unique contribution?

The key is finding a voice that meets a human need.

Inspiration Over Jackass Theory
The Jackass Theory refers to the carrot and the stick. Covey asked us what kind of supervisor do you need when you have a job that you are passionate about and is using your talents and you feel you are appreciated.

People are volunteers. You want them to contribute their greatest, unique contribution.

Keys to Effective Large Team
Covey outlined the keys for effective large teams::

Psychologically committed.
Accountable to the team / everybody.
Culture of results.

One person may represent the group, but accountability is to the team versus the boss. Accountability to the team versus an individual is a knowledge worker concept.

How To Find the Win / Win Performance Agreement
Covey suggested an approach for finding the Win/Win for teams and organizations in terms of performance:

Help them find their voice.
Find out what individuals are good at and like doing and serves the needs of the business.

When you have that, you have a win-win. The key is to have a win/win performance agreement where it is mutually beneficial between the individual and the organization. The individual should be able to use their full talent and passion (there voice.)

Information is the Knowledge Worker's Disinfectant
Covey mentioned that light is the greatest disinfectant in nature. For the knowledge worker, it’s information. For a knowledge worker to be effective in a team, they need information, they need the criteria for success and they need to be accountable to the group.

The Whole Person
According to Covey, the whole person includes four parts:

Body
Mind
Heart
Spirit

Control-Paradigm to a Whole Person Paradigm
Covey reminded us that today’s workforce is about directed autonomy. You manage (things) that can’t choose. You lead people. People have the ability to choose.

The key take aways are:

Today’s world is about breaking away from a control paradigm and shifting to one of directed autonomy.
Help people find their voice.
You can’t buy the mind, body, heart, and spirit – they are volunteered.
Use all four parts of your nature. If you take one away, then you’re treating a person as a “thing” that you control and manage.

Keeping Top Talent
Covey told us about how Admirals in the Pacific were losing people to better paying jobs. There was an exception. Covey got to meet the group that kept their top talent. The keys to a committed group included:

The culture was committed in hearts and minds.
The job was fulfilling and meaningful.

Indian Talking Stick Communication
Covey shared a technique for improving empathic listening. It’s the Indian Talking Stick:

You give the stick to the other person first.
You don’t get the stick back until the other person feels they are understood.
The purpose is not to agree, or disagree, but only to understand the speaker.

You don’t need to use an Indian talking stick. You can use any object. The value of the object is that you don’t get it back until the other person feels understood.

Industrial Age Concepts
Throughout the session, Covey made reference to some "industrial age concepts":

People are an expense, tools and machines are assets.
Supervision is an industrial age concept.
One-on-one accountability to a boss.
Comparison systems for the basis of collaboration.

Lighthouse Principles
Throughout the presentation, Covey referred to some lighthouse principles that govern behavior:

Cultivate an abundance mentality.
There are four parts to our nature: body, mind, heart, and spirit
The whole is greater than the parts
Develop integrity; avoid duplicity (Don’t say one thing, but do another and if you make a promise, keep it.)

Continuum of Communication
Covey showed us a continuum of communication that moves from hostility and transaction-based communication to transformation:

Hostility
Defensive Communication (Transaction)
Respectful Communication (Transaction)
Synergy, Third Alternative (Transformation)

Empathic Listening is the No. 1 Communication Skill
Covey stated that communication is the number one skill in life. He went on to say that empathic listening is the number one communication skill. Covey explained that empathic listening is listening within the other person’s frame of skills. Listening empathically is listening with the other person’s frame of reference. The key is to listen until the other person feels heard and understood.

Empathic Listening Over Telling and Selling
A satisfied need, no longer motivates. Covey used the example of air – it’s a satisfied need. When the other person feels heard and understood, it’s more likely they will listen to you and that you can seek a better solution, that’s mutually beneficial. You are no longer telling and selling.

Our Experience is the Lens We Use to Interpret Life
Covey showed the audience three pictures. One half of the audience looked at the first picture. Next, the other half of the audience looked at the second picture. Then the full audience looked at a third slide which was a composite of the first two slides. Depending on which of the pictures you saw first, influenced what you saw in this third picture.

The key take away here was that what you saw was influenced by your experience and that rather that impose your view, first understand the other person’s perspective – there’s a good chance, you’re both right! (This is a good case where the Indian Talking Stick could come in handy.)

Resolving Conflict By Finding the Third Alternative
Covey shared a technique for resolving conflict that works for him in 95% of the cases he runs into around the world. Here’s the key steps:

Put up the two points.
Ask the question, “would you be willing to search for a solution that would be better than what either of us has proposed?”

The key here is to listen to the other person first and listen empathically. The proactive part here is that you can choose to listen to the other person first (seek first to understand, then to be understood.)

Listening to Loved Ones
One of the audience members asked for advice on counseling a loved one. Covey responded with the following solution:

Start by saying, “Honey, I have not spent the time to listen to you, all I’ve done is tell you and evaluate.”
Listen in depth; restate to their satisfaction. (Empathic listening)
After they feel understood, you ask, “Have I listened to you? Are you willing to listen to me, as I have listened to you?”
Find a 3rd alternative.

The key here that Covey mentioned is that most people will not pay the price of listening empathically.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Covey shared a slide that framed out the seven habits of highly effective people in terms of private victory, public victory, dependence, independence, and interdependence.

Be proactive.
Begin with the end in mind.
Put first things first.
Think win-win.
Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
Synergize.
Sharpen the saw.

Habits 1,2,and 3 are the foundation for private victories and integrity. Habits 4, 5, and 6 are the keys to public victories.

Peace of Conscience Over Peace of Mind
Covey made a distinction between peace of mind and peace of conscience. He explained that integrity is more than honesty. Integrity means that if you make a promise, you keep it. If you’re honest, you might have peace of mind, but if you don’t have integrity, then you won’t have peace of conscience. You have peace of conscience by avoiding duplicity.

Loyalty to the Absent
Covey made his point very simply – only talk about people as if they are there. You can be critical, but speak as if they were there in front of you. Don’t bad mouth them behind their back and then sweet talk them to their face. This is a lack of integrity and creates deep duplicity inside you. This inhibits your ability to have peace of conscience.

Use I Messages Over You Messages
Meet with the people you have a problem with directly. Practice the following:

Let me listen to you first.
Use “I” messages vs. “you” messages. I messages are “It’s my perception,” “in my experience,” … etc. You messages are “you are …”

Genuine Happiness
Covey said the key to genuine happiness is to develop integrity. The key to developing integrity is the first three habits (your Private Victories):

Be proactive
Begin with the end in mind
Put first things first.

Greek Philosophy of Influence
Covey shared the three parts of the Greek philosophy of influence:

Ethos – credibility, model trust.
Pathos – restate the point of view. (Seek first to understand …)
Logos – Make your presentation. (… Then to be understood.)

You Are the Creative Force of Your Life
Covey challenged us to be a creative force:
1. Get out of victimism – You’re not a victim of your circumstances.
2. You are the creative force of your life.

Empathize first. Grow your circle of influence. Make tremendous impact.

The Most Important Thing You’ll Ever Do
Covey closed with a powerful message we could take away:

The most important thing you’ll ever do is in the four walls of your own home.

My Favorite Part of the Session
While I enjoyed the entire session, my favorite part was getting to meet Dr. Covey. I shook his hand, I thanked him for helping people find their voice and he signed my post it note (sadly, I didn’t think to bring my Covey books, and all I had was my post it notes.)

Key Actions
After the session, I met with Srinath. We learned a lot so we tried to turn our insights into a small set of key actions. Here’s what we came up with:

Develop personal / family mission statements and help others to do the same.
Develop empathic listening and help others to do the same.
Find our voices and help others find theirs.

Personally, I want to make more use of the Indian Talking Stick Communication technique, particularly at some of my more vibrant meetings.

More Information

Dr. Stephen Covey (Wikipedia)
Stephen R. Covey's Blog
Sean Covey (Wikipedia)
Strange Meeting at Sea (The story of Captain Horatio Hornblower)