What have you done for me today?

Posted on October 22, 2009 by Jeff

As professionals, we all remember the first project that we got to sink our teeth into… You know what I’m talking about – we’ve cut our teeth in various programs along the way, but at some point in time, our handlers turned us loose, althoug we knew that they were nearby. They were giving us just enough rope to do some damage, but not enough to hang ourselves.

For me, that opportunity was the Plymouth Prowler. The hot rod throw back was born out of a concept that famed designer Tom Gale had sketched. Response at the North American International (Detroit) Auto show was strong, and after a short feasibility study, Craig Love and his management team got to work on selecting their design and development team to take the vehicle into production.

Two decisions, in my opinion laid the groundwork for the success of the Prowler. First, the designers and engineers were given the directive to change paradigms in terms of materials, design, manufacturing, everything. This opened the door for engineers to boldly move forward with assurance that mistakes were going to happen, and (gasp) were expected. The important change in mindset here was how the team reacted to those mistakes – by moving quickly to make things right.

Secondly, the team that was assembled was a study in contrasts. You had a bunch of hot shot punks with a youth, guts, and determination on their side. And they were teamed with a cast of more mature, experienced hot-rodders, guys and gals that had built their own hot rods – honest to goodness motorheads that drank race fuel and farted flames.

Paul Doolan was one of those grey haired flame farters that I would exchange greetings with each morning as we passed each other on the way to our respective offices. As we shook hands, Paul would ask me the same question every day, “What have you done for me today?” As Paul would deliver his query, we’d both chuckle. But over time, Paul established himself with me as a knowledgeable and inspirational leader, and that simple question grew in personal significance.

Each morning, I needed to be able to respond with something that I had indeed done for Paul in the last 24 hours. It became my personal obsession (and in turn the obsession of those who worked with me) to be able to deliver each day. Some day the results were more profound, “We resolved that design issue with the rear bulkhead”, and others maybe not so profound, “We locked in the coating for the seat supports”, but the mindset that his single question instilled in me was bedrock!

The reason that the question worked for Paul (and for a good number of the other respected managers) was that he was legit! An engaged manager of people – his actions were in line with his words, and he understood that while he was managing a program, people were at the core. Having that connection with your team is foundational to being an effective leader, and Paul was one of those that “got it”.

Afterwards, we moved on to different projects, but when we did cross paths, I knew what question to expect when we stopped, shook hands, and smiled at one another.

Thanks Paul!

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Leadership Resources – iTunes

Posted on October 18, 2009 by Jeff

In the past week, I’ve been spending more time with iTunes, and I happened across a feature that Apple has added since I was last active in the iTunes Store. It’s called iTunes U, and is a collection of short podcasts on various topics – the average length of the recordings is approximately 5 minutes.

The iTunes U offerings for Leadership were developed by the Center for Creative Leadership, and although I’ve just started dipping into the offerings, I’m favorably impressed with what they’ve got to say. Nothing groundbreaking so far, but nice bite sized bits of information that help reinforce what you do each day.
Both iTunes and the downloads are free – the length of the presentations fit nicely into my day… a morning walk to the office, in between meetings, or an afternoon break.
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the second nugget

Posted on October 9, 2009 by Jeff

My father surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly is a brilliant man… He was not a “well schooled” individual in terms that most would consider, but he had matured during decades that seemed to impart a wisdom to him that I often wonder is lost on my generation. Earlier in the week I had mentioned nuggets of wisdom that he has shared with me. Let us move on.

Nugget #2
I’ll pre-empt this writing by admitting that I’ve not been the best at following this bit of advice, although I have never doubted it’s truth. I think you’ll understand, but let’s get moving.

After the birth of my first child, my father sat me down for another of our talks. At the time, I was 29 years old, and as most professionals at that age, I was very much career focused. My father was well aware of my passion for my work, had seen the hours that I had been keeping, and seized the opportunity to speak with me. Nearing the end of our conversation, he asked, “On your deathbed, what could your single biggest regret be? Could it be that you didn’t achieve a certain salary or job title? Could it be that you didn’t work hard enough for your employers? Or could it be that you did not spend enough time with your family?”

Admittedly, this was lost on me at the time. And it wouldn’t be until I learned that we would be adding twin girls to the family that I began to understand and appreciate what he had shared. Like I had said at the beginning of this week’s post, this is advice that I’ve had a hard time following through the years. I refer often to many of the nuggets that the old man has shared with me, but this has become my most used yardstick in measuring my performance in balancing professional and personal aspects of my life.

Strategies that have worked for me

  • Set your priorities: Physically write them down, and then look at them each morning. For me, if my priority was going to be my family, then I was going to have to make compromises professionally and personally at different times. Maintaining each of my priorities meant achieving a balance that required negotiating with my Boss, work teams, and my home team, to ensure that I had their support.
  • Get in the office early: I don’t start at 6:00AM because I love getting up in the dark, but by getting in the office before others, it gave me the opportunity to get the portion of my job done that does not requiring meeting with others. This also gave me the flexibility to have personal time available to me later in the work day when needed.
  • Schedule Your Life: You can plan your life, or you can let it happen to you… To achieve the flexibility to balance a professional and personal life, it requires that these things be planned. This means being extremely detailed concerning personal and professional calendars. I was once kidded by a Vice President who had spied personal calendar events on my mobile device. My response was that if being at a basketball game or band performance was a priority for me, then it should be front and center. Including it on my calendar ensured that my top priorities at work and at home were visible to me. Not surprisingly, he understood.

I’m a firm believer that Career and Family do not have to come at the expense of one another. If you’re like me, you’ve worked hard to position yourself in a career for which you have an unbridled passion – in those circumstances it is very easy to bury yourself in work that you enjoy. But for each of us to excel in areas that are our priorities, it requires that we be intentional about how we approach and integrate all aspects of our lives.

Please… go be intentional!

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Unexpected Wisdom

Posted on October 5, 2009 by Jeff

I grew up in a rural area on the outskirts of Detroit, amongst farmland and dirt country roads. The roots of my family tree were from this area, and I was the first of my tribe to leave the area and head off to college. As you can imagine, my father was a simple man… as far as I can tell, he pretty much always did the right thing… he grew up in that same small town, got married to a gal from that small town, and after he served in the military, he walked down the the Ford plant in that town, got a job, and proceeded to dedicate the next 37 years of his life to that company.

And from that individual, a man who never went to college, or was known to me as much of a philosopher came some of the greatest shared of wisdom that I’ve ever heard… Nuggets that I’ve tucked away in a very safe place, and then used when my own “personal compass” was a little off. If you’ll allow me I’d like to share with you a couple pieces of his advice that have governed my or directed me both personally and professionally for the better part of my life…

Nugget #1:
Prior to heading off to university, Dad sat me down for a little chat. After giving me the requisite lectures on focus, studies, alcohol, and women, he said, “you know that you’re the first one in our family to go to college…” I had not thought about this before. He continued, “and do you know why you are going to college?” My response was simple, “So I can make a lot of money when I graduate”.

The look on his face was unforgettable… When he looked like this, the sides of his mouth would point down and his lower lip would become stiff. “No”, he replied, “you’re going to college so you can choose. So you can choose what you’ll want to do for the rest of your life.” In all of the years that my father had worked as a tool and die maker for Ford Motor Company, I had never ever heard him complain about his job. Even though I had seen him come back bruised, sore, and stiff from a day climbing around the inside of odd shaped dies. This was after driving 45 minutes to and from work, the result of a plant move from his hometown to a location closer to Ann Arbor. Our entire family knew that this was far from what he would, or any person would choose as a career, but day after day, year after year, this wonderful man, quietly made this his priority.

And with an understanding of what his career had entailed, his statement had hit with the force of a Mack truck… even at this point in my young life, it was a message that resonated with me. And it still does today. With that lesson came a great feeling of empowerment, that I controlled my future, and that the sky was literally the limit.

… next time around we’ll get to Nugget #2

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