Advice From the Top

by Del Leonard Jones

  “You have to know you’re going to fumble.”

   Swallow your pride. Bring the right energy, the right ch'i, the right moxie to attain greatness.

   Become a rookie again. Learn the nuances, a new playbook. People fail when they take shortcuts.

   You’re as good as your new skills and the perfection of those skills.

  “When you’re a rookie, you’re a number. You don’t even have a name.”

   Listen to smart people in the new arena. Be around people you admire.

   Know there is more to you. You might not get the feedback. Self-examine and self-reflect as much as possible.

  “It’s like players who invest time looking at film. Reflect on things you want to achieve each day.”

   Maybe you’re not a first-rounder in business. The fifth- and sixth-rounders end up making a huge difference.

   There are those who might not have the best resume but have the right attributes to make others better who are around them.

   Tap into the competitive spirit. It takes spirit to dive into a new manual on how to sell software.

   Save when you’re making money. Preserve capital. Think like the Rockefellers and leave a legacy.

   Use your brand as equity to leverage your ability to bring eyeballs or relationships. A lot of life is about opening doors.

   Harris Barton was not famous and he knew football was not going to last forever. He took stationery from his team and wrote letters to local executives and invited them to lunch. He has the Rolodex of a Steve Young or a Joe Montana. He wanted to have success after he was through playing and assimilate himself into society.

  Did you know?

  Lott played 14 NFL seasons (1981-94), 10 with the San Francisco 49ers, who won eight division titles and four Super Bowls. Elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame.

  Had the tip of his injured finger amputated in 1985 to avoid missing games.

  Real teammates pull ’til they puke

  — Dan Lyons, Olympic rower on the leadership lessons of an oarsman

   Ancient Greek Olympians competed to win. There was no silver medal. They also competed within the rules. Referees flogged wrestlers if they tried to gouge someone's eye. Strive for the ideal. Lend nobility to the effort.

   Business is a team sport. Leaders gain command of the power of everybody in the boat.

   The stroke sits in the stern, looking backward. He sets the rhythm. He can't see the rest of the crew, but the crew can see the stroke. He has a great sense of self, rhythm and consistency.

   Without leadership consistency, the team can’t get into a flow. That's why Wall Street is concerned about changes in leadership.

   Each time a rower puts the oar in the water he leaves a puddle, a tangible reminder of his presence. That puddle has a look and feel to it. The stroke-leader sees those puddles – and knows.

   Leaders use their senses and attune themselves. They feel who is early and who is late. They feel subtle changes.

   The race is 2,000 meters. Crews will be in it for the first half. But an experienced eye will see the strain. Some team members want to pull really hard at the beginning, others at the end. The leader’s job is to get everyone to apply power at the same time.

   Leaders exponentially magnify the team’s power. The strain becomes easier.

   Leaders communicate in every way, even with eye contact and energy. It's not just what they say, but how it’s said.

   Be positive, not curt or abrupt. How do you affect the room – or boat? Bring a positive surge of power, not a negative surge that breeds frustration or anger.

   High-performance teams are like cults. They’re on a mission. That's what appealing to the spirit is all about. Everyone on the team has an enormous fear of letting the group down.

   Everyone wants to be valued and a part of something bigger.

  “Throughout military history, people have gone willingly into situations where they are apt to be killed. In sports and business, lives aren’t on the line. But team bonds are established.”

   In business, sports and politics, getting everyone to apply power evenly is about controlling egos. There's always dynamic tension between R&D, sales and production because they make different promises to different people. Leadership is getting them to sublimate their own agendas for the company's agenda.

   A leader paints a vision of what is possible and reaches down into your psyche and says, "This is your destiny."

   You can ennoble garbage collection if you let people know it's important. It's as simple as that.

  “Everyone wants to be a part of something bigger.”

   There are people who make a boat go, when on paper, they shouldn't. There is a practice in rowing called “seat racing.” You run two boats side by side for five minutes. Then you switch the bowmen. You go mano a mano with the two bowmen because all else is equal.

   Managers can use the equivalent of seat racing in business. Put a new person on a team to see if group dynamics change. It's chemistry. The person swapped out may perform better in another group.

  “I’ve coached kids who, on paper, are 10 seconds slower, but somehow move the boat. I call them the glue men, the bonding agents.”

   The best team members feed off each other. They are a little quirky and odd. Bland groups, no matter how strong and powerful, underperform. That's the strength of diversity. It's not just racial or ethnic or gender diversity, it's diversity of spirit, of seeing life and the world.

   Rowing rewards focus. There are so many variables: the wind, the current, uncustomary noise. The natural world impinges externally. Internally, eight people try to move as one. The successful focus entirely on the moment, making minute adjustments.

   Anything can happen, and it usually does. A little wake can knock the boat. Teams adjust instantaneously and think, "Wow, this is so cool."

   As soon as you start to look behind you at what just happened, or look ahead too far, you're in trouble. You have a grand plan, but at any moment you have to be absolutely focused on what's going on.

   Be consistent. Don’t be happy one day and moody and angry the next. If a coxswain changes from 30 to 29 strokes a minute on a whim, the crew can fall apart and take several strokes to readjust to the new rhythm.

  Did you know?

  Lyons is president of leadership consultants Team Concepts. He’s a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He rowed on seven U.S. National Teams, winning two world bronze medals, a world gold and a Pan American gold. Member of U.S. Rowing Hall of Fame.

  Competed in the 1988 Seoul Olympics in the coxed pair. Was among the favorites to win before partner Robert Espeseth came down sick. Finished 11th.

  Best known in rowing quarters for being a part of the 1986 Mutiny at Oxford when Americans boycotted the annual race vs. Cambridge in a protest over favoritism in the selection of crew members.

  Wave the magic wand

  — Lorin Maazel, Music Director New York Philharmonic 2002-09 on leading like a conductor

   A conductor is the musical equivalent of a stage director. Actors know their parts, but the director is responsible for the overall picture.

   Each musician knows the best way to do the job. The conductor brings musician A and musician B together.

   Players battle with their instruments. Know that they want to do their best.

   Don’t frown and complain.

   Musical notes on a page are lifeless. Push each instrument to achieve a goal. Know the score and understand the problems the players will encounter playing it.

  “No conductor accomplishes anything without commanding respect of the players.”

   Don’t ask for respect. It will be accorded to leaders who know their job, know the business, know the people, and show respect for them.

   In rehearsal, conductors mess up by stopping to say something. But then the music sounds exactly as it did before. Neve
r say anything that's not going to make a difference.

  “Don’t stop the orchestra just to hear yourself talk.”

  Envy is the wind that fills the sails of human affairs. Those who are in leadership can expect unjust treatment.

   Don't curry favor. Leaders don't last long when they take the boys out and get drunk at the local pub. If you're affectionate and have friendly feelings toward people, you will win their affection.

   Leaders are both born and made. You're born potentially a great conductor, but then comes the discipline. Years and years of study, focus and stick-to-it-tiveness to the point where you can't study another note.

   All the studying in the world does not make you a conductor. I've seen people eminently prepared, and they don't have the natural gift. That's true of everything – playing chess, tennis. There are actors who walk onto the theater stage with a commanding presence. Others scream and tear their hair, and the audience yawns. Some folks have natural authority. It can’t be defined. They've just got it.

   There is more similarity between oboe players from opposite ends of the earth than there is between people of the same country. A Japanese oboe player is more like a French oboe player than he would be to a sumo wrestler.

   If everyone seems tired, it’s you. It’s projection. Players are as sluggish as the conductor. Come to work fresh, energetic, projecting enthusiasm and go-go-go. Be irresistible. If you’re not up to it, take a cold shower. It’s your job to energize people.

  “Music making without emotion and passion is nothing.”

   Take responsibility for failure, even when it has nothing to do with you. It relaxes followers.

   Losing your temper is a non-starter. Fine orchestras respect themselves and have a great sense of mission and esprit de corps . They're trying to do their best.

  “Don’t look for a perfect performance. Look for an impassioned performance.”

   To be a good leader, first learn to be a good follower. Sit in the orchestra and learn how depressing it is to follow someone you cannot respect either professionally or personally.

   When you're young, you’re arrogant. Learn to be humble and have self-confidence. Some performers are self-destructive. They don't do their best because they're always tearing their performances apart, always feeling inadequate. Others are totally in love with themselves, incredibly arrogant. Find the balance between self-confidence and humility.

   Ask people to stretch. Push and pull them. Look out and say, “Yes, you can.” It's like the childhood ditty about the little engine that could. Bring people past the limitations of their own potential. That’s leadership. All fine conductors have it.

  Did you know?

  Maazel has a photographic memory.

  First violin lesson at age 5; conducting lesson at 7; conducted the Interlochen Orchestra at the 1939 New York World's Fair at 9. Conducted most major U.S. orchestras between ages 9 and 15.

  Best-selling album: Sentimento.

  Reading the tea leaves

  — Frank MacInnis, Emcor Group CEO 1994-2011 on emerging from Chapter 11 in an unpredictable economy

   When workers are terminated, persuade those left behind to believe in themselves and to work as hard as possible. Instill a message of hope and pride among the damaged.

   Consider keeping executives who weathered a realistic storm. Dump those who had an appetite for debt and grandiose visions that failed.

   Know who your friends are. Not everyone is against you. Friends can be customers, vendors, union relationships. They’ll make concessions if they know that they will be a part of your future.

   The guardianship of capital is the primary responsibility. Let go of assets that you'd love to keep in other circumstances, but just can't afford.

   Hurry. The sooner you get out of bankruptcy, the better the chance of survival. The Chapter 11 stigma gets heavier. People get dispirited. Money owed to you is a declining asset because some will hold back payments to see if compromises are available.

  “A prompt decision, even if wrong, is better than a late decision.”

   Assess the strength of the economy. If your sector is adding people, it is making a serious and expensive bet on the future.

   Learn from customers. If they make decisions that involve large capital deployment, conclude that they must be counting on profitability. Watch for defensive moves in anticipation of sector downturns.

   Business is made up of optimistic people, some to a fault. Curb enthusiasm and understand that there are dispassionate economic forces at work. Watch for the next recession, look for evidence every day. It’s coming.

   If the whole industry is troubled, the likelihood of your company succeeding post-bankruptcy is better. It’s hard to battle companies that are prosperous and capital rich and ready to beat your brains out.

   If customers lengthen payment periods, they are concerned about liquidity. This is a useful guide to impending recession even before people talk about it formally.

  “There’s no sterner test than keeping the lid on disaster.”

   Nothing’s more frustrating than to be tapped out at the bank and have something astonishingly good come to your attention. When you have no debt you’ll hear from bankers and companies with assets to sell of high quality at reasonable prices.

   A strong balance sheet poorly managed will get a worse credit rating than a weak balance sheet in the hands of principled, disciplined management.

   Read as much as possible about broad trends.

  “Think in the bathtub like Alan Greenspan. Wherever your do you best thinking is where you ought to be.”

   Every CEO decides how to allocate capital between risk and reward. Once you’re back on your feet, take some risk. But never again put all your assets into a perceived trend.

   It's nice to agree with smart people, but you can't always follow the herd mentality. It’s often wrong. Think for yourself.

  Did you know?

  MacInnis took over Emcor in 2002 when it was in Chapter 11. Five years later the stock was up 1,360 percent. He missed predicting the Great Recession of 2008.

  Began construction career in Tehran, Iran. Worked in Baghdad, Bangkok, the United Arab Emirates, London and Oklahoma. Retired to Westport, Conn.

  Deal or no deal

  — Howie Mandel, TV game show host on the awful risk of getting caught up in the emotion of the moment

   The game show Deal or No Deal was a study in human nature. A scary number of contestants were comfortable leaving with nothing. They’d forfeit $250,000 for the chance at $1 million.

   $50,000 is a down payment on a home. It's a life-changing amount. Don’t be a moron. Take the money and go home. Put your kids through college.

  “It’s not fear vs. greed. It’s fear vs. dreams.”

   Don’t be a coulda, shoulda, woulda person. Be content.

   Contrary to beliefs, women take more risk. They were the biggest winners – and losers – on the show.

   Most contestants started with a game plan. They said, “If I get a $100,000 offer, I’m going home.” But then they got emotionally involved by the lights, the crowd, the atmosphere.

  “One lady’s dream was $75,000 to open a pastry shop. She turned down $78,000. The offer fell to $30,000, but she played on and it went back to $76,000. Opportunity knocked twice. She went home with $5.”

   Think worst-case. There is nobility in being risk averse.

  Did you know?

  Mandel says he’s risk averse, but he owned a carpet company in Canada and was making six figures. He gave it up to make $9,000 his first year as a comedian.

  Expelled from high school for a practical joke. He told a construction company that he was on the school board and ordered an addition to the school.

  Color-blind. Germ-phobic. Won't shake hands.

  Played Dr. Wayne Fiscus on TV show St. Elsewhere. Creator and producer of children's series Bobb
y's World, which ran eight seasons and is syndicated in 65 countries.

  Deal or No Deal was based on a show that originated in The Netherlands.

  Get into the swing

  — Wynton Marsalis, Trumpeter, composer, bandleader on the leadership lessons of jazz

   Respect the abilities of others. Listen to each other. Trust. Make adjustments and improvise based on what others do.

   When people trust each other they work for the common good. They are in sync and prepared for anything.

   Drummer Elvin Jones articulated it well: "In order to play with somebody on a profound level, you have to be willing to die with them." That’s jazz.

   Lack of integrity is the biggest threat to jazz – or business.

   Swing is a rhythm. When a company swings it is able to absorb mediocre and poor decisions.

  “Swing is the feeling that our way is more important than my way.”

   Swing is the objective. It makes us want to work together.

   A swing philosophy extends to audiences, consumers, staff or dysfunctional families. Proceed by feel like a church congregation reciting together and unrehearsed.

   Unleash creativity and spontaneity by being authentic. Inauthentic people are technical. They lack feeling. People are inauthentic when they haven’t paid their dues.

  “A business that swings will be successful.”

   Don’t act like what you are. Be what you are. Value your ideas, mine your dreams. Be creative inside or outside of tradition. Outside, create a new world. Inside, create a new way of doing old things better. Reinvigorate a tradition, or counter-state it.

   Embrace differences. Innovators see how things that appear to be opposites are in fact the same.

  “Everybody knows church music and whorehouse songs. But we don’t have the courage to put two opposites together.”