CONCLUSION: THE PAYOFF
The word arete means “excellence of any kind” or “moral virtue.”1 In early Greek, this meaning was related to the idea of the fulfillment of purpose or function, the act of living up to one’s full potential.
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“Great leadership is about solving problems. Run toward the problems, and work to solve them. Don’t fixate on getting promoted. Focus your attention on doing great at your current job. And then doors will open.” That’s how Carly Fiorina described leadership to me. “You need an equal measure of optimism with realism. You must see the current state as it is. It’s important to believe things will get better (optimism), but also be clear-eyed and realistic. Be honest. See truth, and act on it.”2 For Fiorina, this perspective is what carried her from her first entry-level role to the top job as CEO at tech pioneer Hewlett-Packard (becoming the first female CEO of a Fortune 50 company in the process) and ultimately to running for the White House as a candidate for president in 2016.
It is also a great way to describe the fundamental ethos that is the foundation of this book. Leaders—the ones worth following—are those who see themselves, their team, and the challenges before them with an unvarnished honesty. They are intentionally aware of the gaps, shortcomings, and blind spots. They see reality, but they don’t accept it as destiny. Instead, they set to work to fill in those gaps, overcome those shortcomings, and illuminate the blind spots. Leaders undertake these efforts in the belief that improvement of themselves and their team is not only possible but inevitable if one follows the process, embraces learning with humility, and inspires others to do the same. To lead in this fashion is not to seek glory or benefit for oneself; rather, it is to use the power that comes from that position to clear the road of obstacles so that others can pursue their own success unhindered. Do this, and the feeling you will experience as a leader who leads well and sees the success of those you’ve helped is a unique brand of pure joy.
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It had been about five years since Jennifer had come into my office and destroyed my preconceived notions of what being a manager meant within my first week on the job. It was February, and our company’s entire sales force and executive leadership had gathered in Dallas, Texas, for our national sales meeting. The last night of the event was the Circle of Excellence awards dinner. My team had just wrapped up a big year, and this celebration was the culmination. Whether our performance had been good enough to win Team of the Year remained to be seen, but the preliminary numbers had us hopeful.
As the dinner concluded, the party started to crank up with loud music and a vibrant light show. Then came time for the announcement of the winners: the sales professionals and teams who had outperformed their goals to such an extent that they joined the Circle of Excellence. About halfway through the list, I heard my name, and our team’s table erupted in celebration and hugs. We had done it. It had been a long, hard climb from the team that was dead last and only 77 percent to plan a few years before. We had gone through big changes, both in culture and in the makeup of the team. Though they had been hard, those changes had culminated in this moment. To experience the thrill of dramatic improvement was proof positive that implementing a mindset of curiosity, empowerment, and growth was the key to exceeding the stretch goals put in front of us by our company. That feeling of representing my team, and us finishing at the top of the stack rankings, was as gratifying a moment as I’ve ever had in my career.
Following the celebration, I was asked to interview for a director role with bigger, general management responsibilities. At the end of the process, I was offered the job, and my new boss simply said, “Do exactly what you did with your team, but now do it on a larger scale. That’s all I ask.” That promotion wasn’t something I had set out to chase when I started my management journey. It was the reward for excellence in taking care of the responsibilities right in front of me. As it was with me, I am confident it will be with you, too: being focused on being great at your current role will lead to opportunities to grow in your career in the future.
You never conquer a mountain. You stand on the summit for a few brief minutes, and then the wind blows your footsteps away.
—ARLENE BLUM
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As a new manager, having a “general dissatisfaction with your current skill set” (that’s how Zvi Band, CEO of Contactually, describes it)3 will create a mindset to stretch yourself. To learn. To grow. Through discipline, you can build the habits that are foundational to a mode of constantly consuming new information. Then test your learnings in a real environment to understand what works for you and, most important, why. Spend a few moments each day reflecting on your experiments and taking inventory of what insights should remain as part of your ever-evolving way of operating. Then put yourself in situations to share your findings and learnings with others. Do this, and in six months you’ll look back and be amazed at the level of growth that’s occurred in yourself. It will motivate you to continue along that path.
I love the way NBA star J. J. Redick puts it: “You’ve never arrived. You’re always becoming.”4 Redick has had plenty of opportunities to believe he had “arrived”: a McDonald’s High School All American, he was twice a consensus first-team All-American and named the National Player of the Year as a senior at Duke University in 2006. Following his sterling career at college basketball’s preeminent program, Redick realized his dream of making it to the NBA when he was drafted in the first round by the Orlando Magic in 2006.
He is often asked to speak to audiences, ranging from college basketball teams to the executives and leaders of Fortune 500 companies. At one such event, Redick noticed that a player he was speaking to had a tattoo on his body that said “ARRIVED.” The message of the tattoo stuck with Redick ever since. J.J. completed his thirteenth season with the Philadelphia 76ers, his best statistical year of his career, and then signed a two-year, $26.5-million contract at the age of 35. An unheard-of-sized contract for an undersized player of that age in the NBA. He defines what it means to continually improve on a daily basis.
For Redick, his focus is on continuous progress and improvement. It’s about climbing the mountain and never reaching the summit, and yet still enjoying the climb. By trusting the process and doing the work necessary for daily improvement, you will experience the beneficial effects of aggregating even marginal, seemingly unseen gains. Don’t ever think that you’ve arrived. Foster the mindset that you’re always becoming.
Strive to lead in a manner in which you are constantly expanding the edges of your competency. Be thoughtful and intentional about how you expand those edges. Sign up for an improv class, learn to play guitar, learn a second language, take a class on a topic you know nothing about, learn to paint, travel to a country where they don’t speak your language. We don’t know what we’re capable of until we are forced to do it. You should be expanding your zone of competence on a daily basis, and not just in the realm of being a great leader for your team. Take this same approach to life. Strive for incremental gain. But only if you care about excellence. Only if you care to get better. Only if you believe that you have the capacity to improve. I know you do, but that doesn’t matter. The real question is: Do you?