Category: leadership

Villain turned hero

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Many business books (strategy books, leadership books, self-improvements books) present their ideas in a villain vs hero way.

On one side, there are undesirable strategies, leadership styles, behaviours, tactics and on the other are desirable strategies, leadership styles, behaviours, tactics.

And this is where they fail to inspire change, for two reasons mainly. First of all, very few people identify with the villain – I am not the villain, then why should I change?. And secondly, the positive features of the hero are presented as innate, almost magical – I am not a demi-god, so why bother?.

A villain turned hero approach would probably be more effective. It would humanize failure, introduce shades of grey, and make the whole story more approachable and relatable.

This is something to keep in mind also for the next story you are going to tell.

The best self-promotion tool

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If you are starting in a new role, make it your first priority to talk to people who work close to you.

Your direct reports, their reports, your peers, those you will collaborate with in adjacent teams, your manager, their manager.

There is no rule for where you should stop, just do it with common sense.

And while the instict would probably push you to use the conversations to promote yourself, your background, your agenda, make it so instead that you will mainly listen. Understand who you are talking to, what motivates them, how they get measured, what success means to them.

If you do that effectively, you can’t fail. You will deliver exactly what they need, and they will be the ones promoting you and your agenda when that is needed.

Listening is the best self-promotion tool.

Your winning way

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This way of doing marketing does not work for everybody. In fact, it probably would not work for your company.

But it works for Balsamiq.

I guess the point of this story is the following.

Before jumping into a funnel carousel, before starting to talk about MQLs, SQLs, and SAOs, before paying an agency to figure out your business model and your brand, before running around optimizing the optimizable and hacking the hackable. Take a deep breath.

Find a way that works for your customers and for your business. A way that reflects your values, your purpose, the change you want to see in the world. A way that you are proud to promote, that your leadership is proud to promote, that your employees are proud to promote. A way that lets you build a sustainable business where you and your team are the ones defining success.

There is no other way. It’s your winning way.

About to escalate

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When a situation is about to escalate, be ready to do two things.

First, be ready to have a difficult conversation face to face. You can’t send an email, you can’t text, you can’t use the chat. In certain circumstances, you may still be able to use the phone, but be prepared when possible to meet face to face (or camera to camera in today’s world).

Second, be ready to concede. You will not get out of it if you put your foot down, if you want to win it all, if you are not open to be proven, at least in part, wrong.

But before that, how do you know a situation is about to escalate?

You feel it. You understand something is not right when you feel you are getting agitated, when you sense that being right is becoming more important than the outcome, when any minor event gets charged of unrealistic importance. So much so that you have to tell somebody or do something right away.

You have the power to defuse such incredibly dangerous situation, do not get sucked into them.

The real challenge

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Sometimes a genuine laugh and a little openness can make us feel on the right track once again.

And if that works for us, we can be sure it would do miracle for others as well. When you put kindness and honesty out there, the effects compound, and the return transcends your personal boundaries.

We all seek connection in what we do.

Funnily enough, the real challenge is often to be the first offering it.