Knowing the difference between players and pretenders
By · CommentsIf you’ve ever led people, you’ve come across followers who would rather act the part than do their part. Those people are pretenders, and while they can sometimes masquerade as players, there are ways to tell the two apart. It’s important to find all the pretenders within an organization, because otherwise, they will steal momentum and damage relationships.
Here is my guiding principle: Pretenders look the part, talk the part, and claim the part, but fall short of fulfilling the part.
Here are some other specific differences:
1. Players have a servant’s mindset; pretenders have a selfish mindset.
Players do things for the benefit of others and the organization, while pretenders think only of benefitting themselves. A pretender is narrowly focused only on outcomes that are in his or her best interest.
2. Players are mission-conscious; pretenders are position-conscious.
Players will give up a position to achieve a mission. Pretenders will give up a mission to achieve a position. For players, the progress of the mission is much more important than their own place within it. But a pretender will value his or her position more highly than just about anything else.
3. Players can deliver the goods; pretenders only promise the goods.
A player is a team member who can be counted on to finish a task every time. The pretender will claim the ability to do so; but in the end, he or she does not consistently execute.
4. Players are job-happy: they love what they do and do it well. Pretenders are job-hunters: they can’t do what they do where they are but think they could do it better somewhere else.
For a player, the work is fulfilling and meaningful, and he or she is devoted to doing it well. The pretender is so focused on appearing competent that he or she cannot always BE competent. And again because of the focus on appearance, the pretender won’t admit fault when mistakes are made. Thus, he or she believes that problems are a part of the workplace, not him- or herself.
5. Players love to see others succeed; pretenders are only interested in their own success.
Rabbi Harold Kushner had a player’s mindset when he said, “The purpose of life is not to win. The purpose of life is to grow and to share. When you come to look back on all that you have done in life, you will get more satisfaction from the pleasure you have brought into other people’s lives than you will from the times that you outdid and defeated them.”
I think we all start out as competitors, but the goal is to grow past that. In my adult life, I have evolved from competitor, to personal achiever, to team player, and on to team builder. A player is happy when another member of the team succeeds because it benefits all. The pretender sees success as a win-lose proposition, and resents it when another person “wins.”
6. Players value integrity; pretenders value image.
In navigation, the rule is that what’s under the surface should be heavier than what’s above the surface. Otherwise, ship will capsize in a storm. Integrity is like this; what’s under the surface had better be greater than that which is in plain sight. A player can be counted on to do the right thing, even if nobody is looking. Pretenders may only do the right thing when others are looking, and whatever is expedient when others are not.
7. Players make the hard choices; pretenders make the easy choices.
We all have the power of choice, but once used, our choice has power over us. What is a hard choice? With a hard choice, the price is paid on the front end; the payoff only comes later. Few people gather to affirm the hard choice, and it almost always includes risk. And the hard choice usually places others and the organization above self. Peter Drucker once said, “Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” Players aren’t afraid to make those decisions.
8. Players finish well; pretenders fade out.
Some people start as players, but at some point they turn into pretenders. Why? I believe it’s because they overestimate the event and underestimate the process. They make the choice to begin, but they get tired of the work it takes to continue. Or they begin and proceed until they are confronted with the need to change. Unwilling to do that, they begin pretending in order to get by. A player takes all tasks to completion.
Do you have a better idea of who the players and pretenders are within your team or organization? Remember that players will always ADD to the team’s efforts. But pretenders, at least in the long run, will COST the team. Knowing the difference between the two means that you’ll count on the right person to get the job done.
Coming next month: A Day About Books
By · CommentsJust this week I finished the preliminary work on the creation of my next book. Not the one for 2012 – that one’s been finished since last fall. No, this is my 2013 book, which we need to turn in THIS fall. That’s the way publishing works: everything takes a long time to go from written to published.
I’ve learned a lot about the publishing world in the 20+ years that I’ve been writing books. Some of it is obvious, but other things are not common knowledge. And over the years, I’ve often been asked to share what I know and how I personally have been able to create at least one book – and often more! – each year.
Maybe you want to write a book. Or maybe you’re just interested in knowing about the process. Either way, I think you might enjoy a new seminar my John Maxwell Team has created:
“A Day About Books”
June 23, 2012, 9:30am-5:00pm
in West Palm Beach, Florida
(special VIP events optional)
In it you’ll learn how I get ideas, and how I work with my research, writing, and publishing team to take those ideas from concept to publication.
Plus, I’m excited to announce a special guest speaker:
Michael Hyatt, Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers, the largest Christian publishing company in the world and the seventh largest trade book publishing company in the United States.
In addition to knowing a lot about the publishing world, Mike has become an expert on establishing a platform as a writer and/or speaker. You’ll come away from his session with many practical ideas on how to pursue making your book idea a reality.
I hope you can join me for this special event. I look forward to sharing my thoughts and experiences as a successful author with you.
For more information and to register, visit HERE.
How to Become a Focused Thinker
By · CommentsIn his book Focus: The Future of Your Company Depends on It, marketing consultant Al Ries gives a tremendous illustration:
The sun is a powerful source of energy. Every hour the sun washes the earth with billions of kilowatts of energy. Yet with a hat and some sun-screen, you can bathe in the light of the sun for hours at a time with few ill effects.
A laser is a weak source of energy. A laser takes a few watts of energy and focuses them in a coherent stream of light. But with a laser you can drill a hole in a diamond or wipe out a cancer.
Focus can bring energy and power to almost anything, whether it’s physical or mental. If you’re learning how to pitch a baseball and you want to develop a good curveball, then focused thinking while practicing will improve your technique. If you need to refine the manufacturing process of your product, focused thinking will help you develop the best method. If you want to solve a difficult mathematics problem, sustaining focused thinking helps you break through to the solution. That’s why philosopher Bertrand Russell asserted, “To be able to concentrate for a considerable time is essential to difficult achievement.” The greater the difficulty of a problem or issue, the more focused thinking time will be necessary to solve it.
Does every area of your life deserve dedicated, focused thinking time? Of course, the answer is no. Be selective, not exhaustive, in your focused thinking. And once you have a handle on what you should think about, you must decide how to better focus on it. Here are five suggestions to help you with the process:
1. Remove Distractions
I’ve found that I need blocks of time to think without interruption. So when necessary, I make myself unavailable and go off to my “thinking place.” As a leader, however, I am aware that I need to remain accessible to others and to withdraw from them to think.
But since one lets us connect with people and know their needs, and the other lets us think of ways to add value to them, we need to value and give attention to both.
2. Make Time for Focused Thinking
Once you have a place to think, you need the time to think.Years ago I realized that my best thinking time occurs in the morning. So whenever possible, I reserve my mornings for thinking and writing. One way to gain time for focused thinking is to impose upon yourself a rule that one company implemented. Don’t allow yourself to look at e-mail until after 10 a.m. Instead, focus your energies on your number one priority. Put non-productive time wasters on hold so that you can create thinking time for yourself.
3. Keep Items of Focus Before You
Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great transcendental thinker, believed, “Concentration is the secret of strength in politics, in war, in trade, in short in all management of human affairs.” To benefit from that concentration, keep important items in front of you. Ask a colleague or assistant to keep bringing them up. Or keep a file or a page where you see it every day as you work. That strategy has successfully helped me for thirty years to stimulate and sharpen ideas.
4. Set Goals
I believe goals are important. The mind will not focus until it has clear objectives. But the purpose of goals is to focus your attention and give you direction, not to identify a final destination. As you think about your goals, note that they should be
- Clear enough to be kept in focus
- Close enough to be achieved
- Helpful enough to change lives
Be sure to write down your goals. And if you really want to make sure they’re focused, take the advice of David Belasco, who says, “If you can’t write your idea on the back of my business card, you don’t have a clear idea.”
5. Question Your Progress
Ask yourself, “Am I seeing a return for my investment of focused thinking time? Is what I am doing getting me closer to my goals? Am I headed in a direction that helps me to fulfill my commitments, maintain my priorities, and realize my dreams?”
From the How Successful People Think Workbook
Enlarging others
By · CommentsTeam members always love and admire a player who is able to help them go to another level, someone who enlarges them and empowers them to be successful.
Players who enlarge their teammates have several things in common:
- Enlargers value their teammates: Your teammates can tell whether you believe in them. People’s performances usually reflect the expectations of those they respect.
- Enlargers value what their teammates value: Players who enlarge others listen to discover what their teammates talk about and watch to see what they spend their money on. That kind of knowledge, along with a desire to relate to their fellow players, creates a strong connection.
- Enlargers add value to their teammates: Adding value is really the essence of enlarging others. It’s finding ways to help others improve their abilities and attitudes. An enlarger looks for the gifts, talents, and uniqueness in other people, and then helps them to increase those abilities.
- Enlargers make themselves more valuable: Enlargers work to make themselves better, not only because it benefits them personally, but also because it helps them to help others. If you want to increase the ability of a teammate, make yourself better.
How do your teammates see you? Are you an enlarger? Do you make them better than they are alone through your inspiration and contribution? Do you know what your teammates value? Do you capitalize on those things by adding value to them in those areas?
Take some specific steps to enlarge your teammates today.
The benefits of mistakes
By · CommentsI recently shared a few quotes on mistakes here. And based on the comments, they seemed to strike a chord for many of you. I believe you can’t have too much instruction on the value of mistakes. So I thought I’d share one of my favorite illustrations on the subject. This is quoted in my book, Failing Forward
Working artists David Bayles and Ted Orland, in their book, Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking
The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pounds of pots rated an “A,” forty pounds a “B,” and so on. Those being graded on “quality,” hoever, needed to produce only one pot – albeit a perfect one – to get an “A.” Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of the highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work – and learning from their mistakes – the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.
It doesn’t matter whether your objectives are in the area of art, business, ministry, sports, or relationships. The only way you can get ahead is to fail early, fail often, and fail forward.
