Camaros and Butterflies Transforming Your Leadership (Part 2)
Camaros and Butterflies Transforming Your Leadership (Part 2)
This is Part 2 of the Introduction (read Part 1 here) to my book LeaderVantage that will be released in August. Reserve your copy today!
Sue and Jeb were finished eating and Sue invited Jeb to walk across the street to a nearby park. It was a bright, sunny summer morning, and it wasn’t long before they saw butterflies alighting on the various flowers. Sue stopped and pointed them out. Then she asked Jeb what he knew about the growth of a butterfly. A bit confused, he quickly recalled they start out as a caterpillar, then go into a cocoon, and finally emerge as a butterfly. “That’s right,” said Sue. “But did you know that butterflies go through four stages—egg, larva, pupa and adult? Each stage has a different goal. And at every stage it’s still a butterfly, even though it doesn’t look like one.” (more…)
I frequently begin my leadership insights with a story, but none is needed today. We all know the story, and the title is COVID-19. It is a pandemic that has impacted virtually every country and continent in the world. The potential for serious illness and loss of life is enough to make all of us quickly change our normal routines, postpone or cancel what we previously thought to be critically important meetings, and stockpile supplies (including more toilet paper than we know what to do with, me included).
Jeb came home exhausted at the end of the work week. But it wasn’t just this week. He felt the same way every week. Regarded as one of the smartest leaders in the organization, Jeb was working hard on several major projects which would bring tremendous revenue to his business unit, and he was on the short list for promotion to vice president within the next two years at his company. This was the big leap he had been waiting for. But somehow, the leadership approach Jeb used during the first 20 years of his career wasn’t working like it had in the past. Three months into a new assignment, he was beginning to experience greater difficulty in motivating and aligning his team’s individual interests with corporate goals, getting them to bring new ideas forward, and collaborating with peers in other business units. Left unaddressed, his results would be negatively impacted. So Jeb knew he needed to change his approach to leadership quickly, but he wasn’t sure what to do 
Kevin crouched near the edge of the cliff
Think of a
This is a conversation I’ve been engaged in with multiple leaders over the past month. These are individuals trying to move their careers forward and balance their own desires and interests with the expectations of others in their environment around appearance, style, communications and behaviors.
How many times have you attended an event and purchased raffle tickets to win something of value but with one hitch? You must be present to win. You couldn’t just show up for a little while, leave early and hope to learn or hear something interesting or to engage with someone who might be a mutually beneficial business connection. You had to stay…until the end…because that’s when the winners were announced. Even if you didn’t win a prize, you had a greater opportunity to gain something of value from being there until the very end.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur with a billion-dollar business and thousands of employees, or under a million dollars in revenue and 10 employees, you’ve had to perform multiple functions as your business grows. Your role has stretched from tactical to strategic and spanned multiple functions and responsibilities. But even as you successfully maneuver these challenges and the business grows, you must evolve from being a Jack or Jill of All Trades, performing functions that exceed your capability and capacity; to becoming a Master of One, performing work that aligns with your purpose and expertise.
“What if we’re wrong?” That was the question a senior leader asked his CEO as they were discussing business strategies and plans. “We probably are,” she replied, “but let’s move forward nonetheless.”
Jake was elated. His COO had just called him into his office to give him the good news. The executive committee approved his promotion to VP of Client Services. This was the promotion he had been working towards for the past five years. It had even come a bit sooner than expected as his predecessor resigned several weeks ago to take a position with another company. He wanted to call his wife immediately to share the good news, but she was on an airplane returning from a west coast business trip. Instead he had to rush to pick up his two sons and take them to their after-school sports activities. He was scheduled to be on vacation over the next two days and looked forward to the long weekend to get his mind in gear and prepare to step into the new role. It would be effective one week from today and the announcement would go out on Monday.