Expect a Storm Part II - Seek Refuge

This is a follow-up to our May 15th post "Expect a Storm". 

We all have the common sense to seek refuge from a storm.  As I indicated in the May 15^th post, we should expect frequent storms.  Therefore, safe refuge needs to be a high priority.

So what is safe refuge from a storm?  In Buddhist philosophy, we are taught to seek refuge in the three jewels; the Buddha; the Dharma; and the Sangha.  The Buddha is our spiritual leader in physical form; the Dharma represents his teachings or the Ultimate Truth and the Sangha is the community of Buddhists.

In Christianity, they take refuge in the holy trinity of the Son, the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Jesus is their spiritual leader in physical form, the Father or God represents the Ultimate Truth and the Holy Spirit represents the living community of Christians. 

This theme of the trinity is more than a coincidence.  There is real power in the number 3.  Have you ever tried to sit on a one legged or even two legged stool?  It can not be done.  You need three legs for a stool to be able to support your weight safely and securely. 

We need a spiritual leader who took physical form so that we can identify with them.  We need an ultimate truth that we know we can rely on in good times and bad.  Lastly, it really does take a village and we need a spiritual community.

So where should we seek refuge in our organizations during our inevitable storms?  What represents the holy trinity of business; Vision, Mission and Values.  There concepts have spiritual significance to your organizations.  Therefore, you need to devote appropriate focus to the development and indoctrination of your own unique organizational Vision, Mission and Values.

Vision is your direction.  If you no not know where you are going it will be difficult to get there.  Mission is your purpose.  Mission driven organizations outperform profit driven ones.  Values are your rules of engagement.  You simply can’t have a civilized society without rules of conduct.

Tell us about where you go to seek refuge from your storms.  We would love to hear from you!

Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success - Part 2

I shared with you previously (Like Minds - Lessons from John Wooden) the definition of success provided by legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. More recently I began the process that I will complete today of compiling an executive summary from portions of his “Pyramid of Success.”

In my prior post I summarized the first 4 of what I believe to be the 9 mission critical elements of his Pyramid. Today, I will explain the remaining 5 factors.

I also want to provide you a link to his official website: http://www.coachwooden.com/

5. Mutual Responsibility - It is your responsibility to properly plan your practices with your team. It is your team’s responsibility to apply what they learn day-to-day with the goal of continuous improvement.

6. Industriousness - There is no substitute for hard work. Worthwhile results come from hard work AND careful planning.

Undirected diligence is not very efficient and, therefore, an element of planning must go into hard work. It is the combination of the two that results in Industriousness.

Wooden spent two hours every day with this staff planning every practice. Each drill was calculated to the minute. Every aspect of the session was choreographed, including where the practice balls would be placed.

He believed that his strength as a teacher emerged from planning and organization. By having practices carefully orchestrated, they were able to get more done in a shorter time period. Planning places effort where effort is most needed.

7. Skill Development - Skill is knowledge of and the ability to properly and quickly execute the fundamentals.

Proficiency in executing the fundamentals of your craft and learning to do them quickly will go a long way toward making a success.

8. Team Spirit - Team Spirit is a genuine consideration for others. It’s the attitude that I’ll be happy to sacrifice personal accomplishments for the good of the team. When every member of the team eagerly performs every task, the group rises to a new level of accomplishment.

Team Spirit is the ultimate expression of interdependence. Team Spirit makes the group better. Team Spirit is consideration, respect and dignity for others.

If we display true consideration for others, most of our problems will be manageable.

9. Competitive Greatness - According to Wooden, we can accomplish all that we have discussed and still not be assured of success. The final ingredient is competitive greatness.

Be at your best when your best is needed; the enjoyment of a difficult challenge. Think of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Lance Armstrong and Michael Phelps just to name a few.

Please share with us your formula for success.

We would love to hear from you!

Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success - Part 1

I shared with you in my last post (Like Minds - Lessons from John Wooden) the definition of success provided by legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.  I want to follow that up with portions of his “Pyramid of Success.” 

However, first things first, I realized that I was taking for granted that you would all know his track record of success as a college basketball coach at UCLA. Below are the highlights of his coaching career. I believe it is important to establishing his expertise on the subject of success.

Unequaled Records as a College Coach:

88 consecutive victories - Next best is 60
10 NCAA championships - Next best is 4
7 consecutive NCAA championships - Next best is 2
38 consecutive NCAA tournament victories - Previous record was 13
4 undefeated full seasons - Next best is 1

Coach’s Pyramid of Success contains 25 elements; 15 building blocks and 10 mortar qualities. It is available online at http://www.woodencourse.com/woodens_wisdom.html.

I am going to share with you what I believe to be the 9 mission critical elements of his Pyramid; 4 in this post and the remaining 5 in the next one.

1. Intentness or Drive - Set a realistic goal; concentrate on its achievement by resisting all temptations and by being determined and persistent.

Intentness embodies determination, perseverance, persistence and tenacity. Intentness is the ability to resist temptation and to avoid the rabbit trails of distraction. An intent person will stay the course and go the distance. He or she will be concentrated on objectives with determination, stamina and resolve.

Intentness is the quality that won’t permit us to quit even when our goal is going to take a while to accomplish. Intentness is patience with action. It’s not wanting and waiting. Rather, it’s being able to wait while we act out a specific plan.

Difficult yet realistic goals produce purpose-directed lives. Roadblocks may cause us to alter our course a bit, but we cannot let them deter us from our destination. We grow stronger through adversity. This is the purpose of a weight-lifting program. Without intentness we can’t possibly become all we can be.

2. Enthusiasm - Wooden emphasizes enthusiasm; it brushes off on those with whom you come into contact.

Regardless of the task, leaders must be enthusiastic and really enjoy what they’re doing if they expect those under their supervision to work near their respective levels of competency.

Quiet enthusiasm gets results; it exudes confidence and rubs off in a wonderful way.

3. Conditioning is growing ourselves. Wooden believed in conditioning; mental, moral and physical. Rest, exercise and diet must be considered, moderation must be practiced and dissipation must be eliminated.

4. Alertness - John Wooden says we grow ourselves through alertness. By observing constantly, staying open minded and being eager to learn and improve. We must be alert, and we can do that by observing what is going on around us.

President Lincoln said that he had never met a person from whom he did not learn something, although most of the time it was something not to do. The point is that Lincoln was always observing, alert to what was going on around him, and he was constantly learning.

Please share with us your formula for success. 

We would love to hear from you!

Like Minds - Lessons from John Wooden

Since this blog is dedicated to Creating Happiness and Building Business Value, I thought it might be a good idea to define success.

To do this, I looked to a Wizard for wisdom. No, not Merlin, but John Wooden, The Wizard of Westwood. 

“Success is peace of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” 

Please note that the Coach’s definition does not have anything to do with winning in the context of an individual contest or season.  However, it has everything to do with winning in the context of a life well lived.

The Coach’s definition of success was greatly influenced by a couple of key principles he learned from his Father.

1. Do not try to be better than someone else.
2. Always try to be the best you can be.

John Wooden’s Dad urged him to always learn from other people. But he also cautioned against depending on others to define his self-worth or success. 

Within this framework, each person becomes the only one who can ultimately judge his or her own success. You are the only one who knows whether you have won. 

Do you satisfy this definition of success personally?

Do you satisfy this definition of success organizationally?

Please share with us your definition of success.

We would love to hear from you!

Expect a Storm

We have previously provided a series of blog posts relating to vision, mission and values.  I have always struggled with a way to emphasize the critical importance of these three concepts.  Suddenly I was struck by the topic of a recent project with a client.

My client was struggling with the way her leadership team responded to challenges in the workplace.  The irony of this to us was that challenges are the rule in the workplace, not the exception to the rule.  Therefore, it was difficult for us to understand why so many people are shocked and dismayed when they face challenges at work or in life.

This reminded my of a story that Tony Dungy told about his pep talk for the Indianapolis Colts on the evening before their Super Bowl victory.  He instructed them to EXPECT A STORM.  He meant that in both a literal and metaphorical way.  There was a rain storm in the forecast and it did rain hard for much of the game.

However, the real storm he was predicting was a metaphorical one.  Sure enough, the Chicago Bears ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown.  This was the real type of storm he warned his players to expect.

Coach Dungy’s message to his players was to EXPECT A STORM and to respond my remaining calm and STICKING TO THEIR GAME PLAN.  Tony taught that you always wanted to have a sense of urgency but that you needed to temper that by stopping short of a sense of panic.  His philosophy was that leaving your game plan was a sign of panic and panic was not in you your game plan.

Your vision, mission and values statements combine to reflect your organizational game plan.  So, always remember in business and in life, EXPECT A STORM and is response to those inevitable storms, STICK TO YOUR GAME PLAN!

Please share your personal or organizational game plans with us.  We would love to hear from you!!

WWBD (What Would Buddha Do?)

I have learned a lot about creating happiness from Buddhist Philosophy.  Buddha would have made a great team member in any organization because he dedicated his life to eliminating the suffering in the world.

I have taken the same exact vow; I just state the objective in the positive result that we all want to achieve–creating happiness.

Buddha taught that there were Four Truths in the world:

1. Suffering exists
2. There is a cause for this suffering
3. There is a way out
4. Perfect thought, perfect word & perfect deed

I have never had difficulty getting a consensus on Truth #1; there is plenty of suffering and gnashing of teeth in the business world.

There are those who will try to argue with Truth # 2, but any successful businessperson knows that we have to accept responsibility for our current circumstances.  All of our organizations are uniquely organized by us to get exactly the results we are currently getting.

The most useful “Truths” are numbers 3 and 4, so I would like to dedicate the rest of this post to how these can apply to the business world.

The Way Out

Knowing that there are causes for all organizational suffering and that there is a way by which it may be ended is only useful if you know how to do it.

Fortunately, Buddha did not leave this process to chance and provided a specific system that has been used for 2,500 years to reduce suffering in the world.

• Perfect Thought
• Perfect Word &
• Perfect Deed

The importance of perfect thought is the reason why the most successful people, families and organizations have mission, vision and value statements and strategic plans.  It makes sure that everyone is focused on and thinking about the same things and the right things. 

Buddha taught that you needed to seek mind control first.  Without perfect thought, you will not be able to progress any further toward your full potential.

However, perfect thought alone will not ensure your ultimate success.  You need to enlist perfect word or communication using all the communication tools currently available to make sure that everyone is engaging in the perfect thought that leads to perfect deed or actions. 

Perfect word or communication is essential leadership; the act of getting everyone on the same page and moving synergistically in the same direction.

The following is a quick list of basic communication tools at the disposal of leaders today.

• Email
• Voicemail
• Podcasts
• Videos
• Intranets
• Internet
• Memos
• Individual face-to-face verbal and body language
• Conference calls
• Video conferences
• Group meetings

Ultimately, success comes down to execution.  Perfect deed refers to our actions.  These are the choices we make with each present moment of our lives.  We literally create our future by the choices we make in each of our present moments. 

We can create a future of reaching our full potential or a future of frustration and mediocrity through the cumulative effect of these decisions.

Buddha taught this about our actions and deeds:

My actions are my only true belongings.  I cannot escape the consequences of my actions.  My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

The power of the system comes through the synergistic and interdependent nature of the three distinct components; perfect thought, perfect word and perfect deed.

If you have engaged in perfect thought and communicated these thoughts effectively, you create an environment where perfect action can take place if you have the right people on your team.

Have you found a way out from all of the organizational suffering in the business world today? 

We would love to hear from you!

Like Minds - His Holiness The Dalai Lama

One of the Dalai Lama’s most famous books is “The Art of Happiness” which he wrote with Howard Cutler, M.D.  The tag line for the book is “A Handbook for Living” and it truly is one.  The book is a little clinical like a research paper.  However, if you can sift your way through all of that you can find the promised handbook for living.

Here are some of the observations the Dalai Lama makes in his book:

Our moment to moment happiness is determined by our outlook, not by our absolute condition. 

Our feelings of contentment are strongly influenced by our tendency to compare.

We can increase our feelings of life satisfaction by comparing ourselves to those who are less fortunate than us and by reflecting on all the things that we have.

Eliminate those factors that lead to suffering and cultivate those that lead to happiness.

You can see the simple wisdom in his words.  Happiness is 100% up to us.  Every one of us can be happy by using the basic formula that he lays out in his book.

The trick is that in western cultures we confuse being happy with what we have as being soft or not having any ambition.  The key is to be happy with what you have while you passionately seek to execute on your greater purpose to make the world a happier place through your work life. 

If you don’t follow the Dalai Lama’s this advice, you will likely never be happy in the present, because you will be basing your level of happiness on the outcomes of future events.  I will be happy when I get a new job, new car, new house, new spouse, etc.

In addition, if you only follow the advice from his book as you live your life away from work, your will end up wasting a huge portion of your life trying to buy happiness for your life through enduring unhappiness at work.

We spend the bulk of our productive years at work and we do not know how long we will live.  Therefore, every day must count, because it is the only day you have for sure.  The Buddha CEO Blog is about how to make work matter, truly matter, as a vehicle for maximizing the cumulative value you create for the world in terms of happiness production.

What are you tips and tricks on the Art of Happiness at home or at work?  We would love to hear from you!

What is truly valuable?

You cannot achieve happiness for your stakeholders in an organization unless everyone understands the rules of the engagement and there is a crime and punishment system for rules violations.  You simply will not achieve a civilized culture without this element.

So what is the purpose of an organizational value statement?

1.      To define what you stand for &

2.      To define what you won’t stand for

These should be two different lists and should have punishments that fit the crime for violators.

The rules contained in the “what you won’t stand for” group would be the table stakes of being part of the organization or value chain for the end customer.  These are things like honesty, integrity, ethics, etc. 

If employees or downstream vendors violate these rules, the consequence must be immediate termination.  The termination should be compassionate and directed at the rules violation and not at the person involved.  Severance etc needs to be determined by the exact facts and circumstances.

Violations of the “what you want to stand” for rules again need to be handled on a facts and circumstances basis.  However, as a general rule, this should be more of a “three strikes and your out” type of scenario with plenty of training, coaching and mentoring during the process of remediation. 

Examples of these “what you want to stand for “values are: determination, persistence, competitive greatness, teamwork, etc.

The following is a list of key words and values from Buddha’s teaching:

·        Goodwill

·        Compassion

·        Sympathy

·        Kindness

·        Confidence

·        Diligence

·        Sincerity

·        Wisdom

·        Respect

·        Reverence

·        Meditation

·        Thrifty

·        Frugal

·        Endurance

·        Enlightenment

·        Fellowship

·        Cause & Effect

·        Mind Control

·        Grasping & Attachments

·        Endeavor

·        Faith

·        Modesty

·        Humbleness

·        Offering

What does your organization value?  We would love to hear from you!

Creating a Culture of Community

This is a follow-up to the most recent post on April 27, 2011, The Five Purposes Tool. One of the purposes then described was as follows:

To create a viable, sustainable community rather than merely a workplace.

This leads to the question, “How do you create this type of community in the workplace?”

Buddha recognized the mission critical function of community building and taught a specific system. I have paraphrased and modernized the Buddha’s language as follows:

• Practice sincerity of speech, avoiding gossip and double talk so that you might enjoy the joy of fellowship.
• Practice the kindness of action.
• Practice a sympathy of spirit.
• Provide for an equal sharing of common property.
• Share a common purpose or mission.
• Share a common vision and set of values.

Buddha also provided 7 rules for community building. Again, I have paraphrased and modernized the Buddha’s language.

• Gather together frequently and discuss your vision, mission and values.
• Respect one another.
• Revere the purpose (mission) and observe the values.
• Older and younger respect each other with courtesy.
• This is basically a mandate to value each other’s differences, also a key Stephen Covey principle.
• Sincerity and reverence mark their bearing.
• This is essentially advocating for us to be serious people doing serious work and therefore to refrain from idle talk.
• Purify your minds in a private place. 
• Be thrifty and frugal. 
• This is not being cheap, but simply being careful and thoughtful when using organizational resources.

Another expert on community building that I consulted was Rick Warren, the author of “The Purpose Driven Life.” The following is adapted from Rick’s book:

• The greatest gift you can give someone is your time.
• Do we spend enough time directly with our people? Do we spend enough of our time with people issues? When we spend time, do we give our people real focused attention?

• In a real community you experience authenticity.
• Real fellowship happens when people get honest about who they are and what is happening in their lives.
• In a real community people experience mutuality.
• Mutuality is the art of giving and receiving, it is depending on each other. It is about building reciprocal relationships, shared responsibilities and helping each other.
• In a real community people experience empathy.
• Every time you understand and affirm someone’s feelings, you build fellowship.
• In a real community you experience mercy.
• Fellowship is where mistakes are not rubbed in but rubbed out. Fellowship is about resolution as opposed to retaliation.
• Real community requires commitment.
• Real community takes honesty! When conflict is handled correctly, we grow closer to each other.
• Real community requires humility.
• Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.
• Real community requires courtesy.
• Courtesy is respecting our differences, being considerate of each other’s feelings and being patient with those who irritate us.
• Real community requires confidentiality.
• Gossip always causes hurt and divisions, and it destroys fellowship. The fellowship of the business is more important than any one individual in the organization. You must confront your “well poisoners,” and if they do not modify their behaviors, politely and professionally ask them to move on.
• Real community requires frequency.
• You must have frequent regular contact within your group in order to build genuine fellowship. Relationship building takes time; there are no shortcuts to building a culture of community within your organization.

My hope is that these timeless tips from these great thinkers on the subject of community building will help you with your goal of accomplishing the second organizational purpose of creating a viable, sustainable community rather than merely a workplace.

Please share with us your community building best practices.We would love to hear from you!