One of the two gentlemen who bought our company in 1954, Chet Austin gave me this book for Christmas. With no other immediate title to read, I picked it up just before New Year’s and started into it not sure what to expect.

What I found was quite a gem with small examples scattered throughout that I believe help clarify some questions around leadership. Business has been full of challenges since the week of Christmas, causing me to dig deep and ask questions about our strategies, my leadership, and what needs to happen next. Quiet Strength arrived with impeccable timing.

The first key take-away for me began with these words: “Although all the issues were relatively minor, they contributed to the team’s second-class, defeatist, excuse-laden mentality. I began to sell the philosophy that we are responsible for what happens to us, not anyone or anything else. No excuses, no explanations.” In reality, ownership is not natural in our Freudian-saturated society. It takes real character, guts, and humility to step up and say it is our responsibility. We have to own it and the folks on our team need to own it also. If they don’t take that level of responsibility, we will live like Dungy described: second-class, defeatist, and excuse-laden. We will never succeed that way. Let’s take responsibility, own it, and get on with fixing those minor issues so we can succeed.

The second take-away is that consistent execution produces champions. He quotes Chuck Noll, “Champions are champions not because they do anything extraordinary but because they do the ordinary things better than anyone else.” The ninth chapter, Do What We Do, details the expectations Dungy set out for his 1996 Tampa Bay team: “Execute. Do what you’re supposed to do when you’re supposed to do it. Not almost. All the way. Not most of the time. All of the time. Take ownership. Whatever it takes. No excuses, no explanations.” Over and over, whether the team faced an easy game or was mired in adversity, Coach Dungy reminded his team to “Do what we do.” Whether it was a regular season game or playoff game, “Do what we do.” In other words, the key to success is not flashy, but execution. Consistent execution.

Finally, Dungy is very clear about the source of the success (and his ability to make it through the tough times): Jesus Christ. His faith caused him to do more than talk about his faith; Coach Dungy taught his staff and teams that character is foundational to success. Who his players were in the community, how they treated other teams, and their work ethic must be consistent with their performance on the field. And more importantly, if character wasn’t developed off the field, real long-term (eternal?) success would never happen. What would it profit a man to gain the whole world but forfeit his soul?

Over all, I thought it was a solid but easy to read book with several great themes for life, leadership, and faith.

How about this for a sign in our lobby? It’s just a thought…

If you didn’t bring your creativity, you might as well not be here.

If we don’t allow you to show your creativity, we might as well not be here.

We had a solid discussion on why we work today. A good friend said that as we go through life, our motivation to work changes from “survival to significance.” In my life, I have seen motivation for working mature from personal survival to personal significance, then to family survival and on to family significance, but finally to providing significance to others.

It has been a long time since I have reflected on the chicken business like I have today. Our people are good people who taught me many lessons over the years. They showed me mercy when I was arrogant enough to think I knew everything. Thankfully, they didn’t depart before they completed the mighty task of helping me grow up. In their honor, here are two quotes:

“I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

“To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness.”

-Benjamin Franklin

I appreciated this advice from a good friend today:

I’m a big believer in what I call collaborative intelligence. I will never be the smartest guy in the room. But I know how to find, talk to, and work with people smarter than me. You have the interpersonal skills to do the same. My point here is to highlight another avenue to learn what you feel you need to know for the business but relieve some of the pressure you might feel to know everything before you act, a common pitfall.

Once I thought that leadership and management were about managing people who worked for you. Then, as I gained experience, I realized that successful leaders also must be able to influence those who they report to (”managing up”). But there was more…successful leaders help sway external customers and suppliers. Then, I realized it’s also about winning the support and favor of internal customers and suppliers.

In the end, I think I realized that there are key decision makers, such as a Director of Purchasing or my direct boss. But in order to be an effective leader, no one is more key than anyone else. Everyone is important. Whether you are the guy handing out smocks in the plant or the one signing the checks, you are important. And a true leader recognizes it.

It’s like the story of the young man who wanted to supply our company some service. In the elevator up to our office, he rode with an old gentleman carrying the mail. He made a couple of comments deriding the company before they stepped off the elevator. After all, it was just a lowly mail clerk, right? Little did he know that the old man he was riding with is not only one of the most respected men in the company, he is a founding owner of the company. Everyone is important.

Last year I wrote about a guy we met who had the potential to be a great leader. He was brilliant but unfortunately arrogant. We presented an opportunity to provide insights into the market and innovative ways for him to deliver the ingredients for his finished goods. Instead of taking advantage of that, he did all the talking and never stopped to listen. He was loud, cocky, and looking back boring because everything was a show-off of himself.

POTC and I met talked with a gentleman yesterday whose personality is a stark contrast. He was quiet, gentle, articulate, humble and listened to our conversation. He asked about us and our company and told stories about others. He is not stuck at a mid-manager position, but leads a multi-billion dollar company. He leads. he has all the same skills, education, relevant knowledge and experience as the other guy, but his ability to tame his ego allows him to effectively lead the hearts of thousands.

It is important to have a nice hammer when building a house, but if you bend all the nails you’ll never finish that house. Being controlled while using your toolset and being interested in each person you work with seems to be the much more effective way to build the company.

Winning the trust of a new customer starts pretty simply: they’ve got to know my story. Remember that people want someone they can rally behind, someone they can promote, someone they can believe in. My story must be told by who I am.

One way I have presented the story is with a fancy slideshow presentation given over a break-neck 10 minute session. However, getting there can be awkward. So many people don’t want to wait for me to setup the computer, don’t want to see me clicking through to Powerpoint, and are intimidated by a myriad of slides. If time and the audience permit me to do it, I will.

But most of the time, my story (which is ultimately the story of the company) is sold in 2 ways that involve no Powerpoint. The way of conveying my story occurs in our initial face-to-face meeting. It is the words interwoven among the discussion we have. It is the answers I provide regarding our business.  The story is told in the midst of conversation. It is natural, free-flowing, and non-threatening.
The second way of conveying my story happens constantly.  It’s a combination of how I perform during every opportunity given (how the first order is delivered; the speed of my responce to e-mail inquiries; the manner in which I conduct myself; the depth and breadth of knowledge I possess regarding the industry) and who my character is. My story is both in my execution and in how I execute. When I combine both well, I tell the best story. It’s a story in which everyone can believe. I’m a person in whom everyone can support. My product or service is the one that anyone can feel comfortable purchasing.

I learned a valuable lesson in poker: never underestimate your opponent. The moment you do, you’re set up for a quick and humiliating loss.

The same is true in business negotiations. Although a good businessman negotiates for a win-win (doesn’t want to defeat or to be defeated), its easy to think that you’ve got the best cards. Maybe you think you’re smarter, better prepared, or have an edge in market intelligence that will lead you to win.

Every time I’ve been in that position, I’ve lost. The most humiliating loss came about 2 years ago when I thought I could outsmart a 15-year veteran. Instead of getting a higher price (which I did for 2 months), I lost 100% of the business because they cancelled the project and quit buying my product altogether (the price was too high.) It was embarrassing and painful and an experience I never want to repeat again.

Tonight, my oldest boy (age 4) Jack was hoping that a young lady friend (age 4) would be allowed to dress up as Elasti-Girl while he was in costume as Mr. Incredible. He asked her mom first if she could play for 10 minutes. Then, without her dad knowing that her mom had been asked, Jack asked him if she could play in costume…”for 12 minutes.” He, in return, jokingly said, “How about 8 minutes?” In response, Jack said, “OK, how about 10 minutes?”

Although he has no concept of time, he has learned the art of negotiation. Crazy.