Are you creating a disciplined organization?

Are you building on past successes to overcome future challenges? Or, are you stuck in the mire of past failures?

Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better. (Harry S Truman)

Sustaining the gains that we have made will only provide a sense of momentary exaltation. Moving beyond sustainment requires that we, as a collective team, take on the task of changing daily. “We are doing well, but what are we doing to get better?”

Standing at the podium at the front of the room, it was clear that the man was aggravated. His body language was tense, his tie was undone, and his jaw was clenched – along with his fist on the microphone. “We are a company who demands operational discipline,” he said. “We expect nothing less…our safety record is flawless, our quality is superb, but we are missing our schedule commitment and our prices are 20% higher than our competitors. Why?!” It seemed obvious to me, an outsider, that the three men and two women on the front row were squirming in their seats. They must be the leadership team, I thought. The rest of the crowd were slumped back in their seats and not paying attention to the "epistle missile". 

Fast forward to after the meeting…

Leaders today are going to have to be discoverers -- discoverers in the truest sense of the word. Just as those who founded and created this nation had no maps, no guides, only possessing a passionate sense of curiosity that helped them forge a new path, leaders today must be discoverers.

Guiding a team to a new way of doing business is just as adventurous. It demands that we, as managers and leaders, make a conscious choice to forge into uncharted territory and find that new way, that best way of leading our teams to deliver or organizations mission.

In an ad hoc survey, Bill Catlette and Richard Hadden concluded while at work we provide 62% of our discretionary physical, mental, and emotional effort. When I was in school, 62 was a “D”. Granted, there are days when we all play our “A” game, days when we play our “B” game, and so on, but according to the research, on average we give a “D” performance at work.

If our self-reported average is 62% - what are we doing with the remaining 38% of discretionary effort?

Clear, simple goals mean little if the goals are not distributed to the masses. Furthermore, failure to follow through on commitments is widespread in business and is a major cause of poor execution.

Change is an ongoing process in the life of every organization. More often than not, the changes that we are asked to make may be inconvenient, seem unfair, and cause us stress, but we must learn to adjust if we are going to continue to grow and advance personally and professionally.

Helen Keller was an amazing 'can do' individual whose life will forever illustrate how a 'can-do' attitude and using our abilities in our own best way possible can help us make a huge difference in our own lives, and in the lives of many others. Born in a small town in North Alabama, Helen went on to be recognized all over the world.