By Colin D. Baird
Okay, I admit
it, I’m a recovering addict. No, not
like that, I was worse than that, I once was addicted to command and control.
Like many other Americans and our government, I too was drawn away from
creating a truly meaningful purpose for those who worked with, or for me.
Instead, I was attracted by the alluring narcotic of serving myself, and fellow
stakeholders while measuring success based largely on my collection of dead
presidents on paper. What I was left with was little money, a marriage that
needed work, and little to no soul from the experience of trying to control others.
I was left pondering: how do I overhaul myself first, and then help American
leaders avoid jumping into the same empty pool?
My family, along
with the leadership principles of American statistician Dr. W. Edwards Deming, ultimately
helped me improve my thinking. They convinced me that I was born with all the
influence over my fellow man I would ever have, or need to have. In the eyes of
my family and employees whose future interests I currently represented, it was
what I did with this intrinsic influence that determined who I had become as a
father, husband, and business person. Unfortunately, before my ability to
favorably influence others could get better, it had to get worse so I first could
reach my ultimate personal tipping point. That tipping point came recently one
beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon.
On Father's Day
my family and I had headed off to the beach. While we were all waiting at a
stop light, standing on the curb was an obviously pregnant mother to be. She
had a sign that read "homeless, mother of one with one on the way,
everyone needs help once in a while, please help." I turned to my wife,
and with my kids within earshot, needlessly made a snide remark about this
young person's condition. It's one that
I will never forget, but one that need not be repeated here because of its
complete and blatant disregard for my fellow man.
In a surreal
moment, another homeless person was walking up the sidewalk towards the mother
to be. My silent, but immediate reaction to myself was "oh great, here
comes the father." As he proceeded closer to her he was fumbling around
looking for change in his trench coat. With impeccable timing, he reached into
the pocket containing all his worldly possessions, emptied them into her hand,
then crossed quickly in front of my family’s car as he ran to the other side of
the intersection. The expectant mom who would never see him again, graciously
thanked him and accepted his gifts. As tears began to flow down my face from my
sheer remorse from being such a jerk, my young son in the back seat said
"you see dad, if I do something good and somebody else does something bad
with my something good, it's on them, but if I don't do something good and I
could have, it's on me."
This is the type
of behavior we must cultivate, one where adults learn how to work with one
another with the instincts of innocent children. Innocent children, who have not yet gone into
battle with one another, yet instinctively when given the chance, know how to
treat one another with respect, dignity, and honor. We must then nurture and
grow these intrinsic qualities further to help each individual develop and
continuously improve throughout their entire career. Employees and leaders who
see intrinsic motivation as their extrinsic reward, bring forth the tremendous
contributions of man that everyone wants to give, but can’t in America
Today, family and business ecosystems
very much reflect one another in terms of how they behave, and function as an
entire system. Think about their
similarity. This concept first appeared in James F. Moore's May/June 1993 Harvard Business Review article, titled
"Predators and Prey: A New Ecology of Competition", and won the McKinsey Award for article of the year.
“An economic community supported by a
foundation of interacting organizations and individuals—the organisms of the
business world. The economic community produces goods and services of value to
customers, who are themselves members of the ecosystem. The member organisms
also include suppliers, lead producers, competitors, and other stakeholders.
Over time, they coevolve their capabilities and roles, and
tend to align themselves with the directions set by one or more central
companies. Those companies holding leadership roles may change over time, but
the function of ecosystem leader is valued by the community because it enables
members to move toward shared visions to align their investments, and to find
mutually supportive roles.”
With many of the
leadership choices the Chief Executive makes today closely scrutinized by
employees, family, friends, and the media, their decisions have a tremendous
impact on current and future generations of employees, but their impact can
also be used to improve society overall. While mothers and fathers must do
their part by keeping the intrinsic motivation of their youth high today, CEO’s
are ultimately responsible for raising it to an even higher level tomorrow. As
executives increase intrinsic motivation, parents can envision worksites where
their children can work in the future as ones of enjoyment rather than ones of
abandonment. This new type of out of the box thinking by the CEO can be passed
down generation to generation and from leadership team to leadership team. Joy
in Work can be brought back to, and remain a uniquely American asset available
to all employees, not just a select few.
This is the
vision Dr. Deming once had for American leaders that they were largely unwilling
to grant, and it’s the one the Japanese were very willing to furnish. This is
the leadership transformation Deming knew America
