This morning I have been reflecting on the following quote by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen in their wonderfully insightful book, Great By Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite Them All (HarperCollins, 2011):
“... it’s what you do before the storm comes that most determines how well you’ll do when the storm comes. Those who fail to plan and prepare for instability, disruption, and chaos in advance tend to suffer more when their environments shift from stability to turbulence.”
For many years, I have been a big proponent of being prepared for large and small shifts within the sales and service environment. I have advocated for scenario-based planning exercises to stretch ourselves to think through how we would respond to disruptive events or potential chaotic moments. However, this morning, I have been thinking about the following question:
What do we do once we are in the storm and discover that it is bigger and more turbulent than we had anticipated?
The answer, I believe, is found in the behavior of key leaders as outlined in the book, Great By Choice. Collins and Hansen note that leaders, who they called 10Xers “because they built enterprises that beat their industry’s average by at least 10 times”, thrived in uncertainty, and even chaos, because they displayed three core behaviors, namely fanatic discipline, empirical creativity, and productive paranoia. Here is how they explain these three key behaviors:
“Fanatic discipline: 10Xers display extreme consistency of action - consistency with values, goals, performance standards, and methods. They are utterly relentless, monomaniacal, unbending in their focus on their quests.
Empirical Creativity: When faced with uncertainty, 10Xers do not look primarily to other people, conventional wisdom, authority figures, or peers for direction; they look primarily to empirical evidence. They rely upon direct observation, practical experimentation, and direct engagement with tangible evidence. They make bold, creative moves from a sound empirical base.
Productive Paranoia: 10Xers maintain hyper vigilance, staying highly attuned to threats and changes in their environment, even when - especially when - all’s going well. They assume conditions will turn against them, at perhaps the worst possible moment. They channel their fear and worry into action, preparing, developing contingency plans, building buffers, and maintaining large margins of safety.”
As they further explain, “Underlying the three core 10Xers behaviors is a motivating force: passion and ambition for a cause or company larger than themselves. They have egos, but their egos are channeled into their companies and their purposes, not personal aggrandizement.”
From my perspective, I would add to the above three core behaviors one more behavior, namely that these same leaders conducted themselves with the utmost integrity. First, they treat everyone with respect no matter what their position is within the company. Second, they listen to understand rather than just to be understood. Third, their public actions match their private actions. And finally, their word is their bond, referencing an old Quaker phrase. If they say they are going to do something, then all involved know it will happen. In a time period of so much turbulence and instability, we need leaders who conduct themselves with great integrity.
In the epilogue of the book, Great By Choice, Collins and Hansen note one more important point. As they write, “... greatness is not primarily a matter of circumstances; greatness is first and foremost a matter of conscious choice and discipline…. The greatest leaders we’ve studied throughout all our research cared as much about values as victory, as much about purpose as profit, as much about being useful as being successful. Their drive and standards are ultimately internal, rising from somewhere deep inside.”
To me that depth of internal clarity and the subsequent choice to act with integrity differentiates the great leaders from the mediocre or good ones. These leaders of integrity find within themselves the resources of character to meet the challenges of this time period. They do not talk people into believing in the importance of discipline and integrity. Instead, they lead by example. And right now, we need great leaders who are willing to stand up, to make the right choices, and to be the kind of people who role model discipline and integrity as we all move through the challenges before us.
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